{"id":458,"date":"2022-02-14T15:27:56","date_gmt":"2022-02-14T15:27:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onlydavesmith.com\/?p=458"},"modified":"2022-02-14T15:27:56","modified_gmt":"2022-02-14T15:27:56","slug":"whats-it-all-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onlydavesmith.com\/?p=458","title":{"rendered":"What’s It All About?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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There are people, and I have no idea if they are just a vocal minority among arty types, who claim to have been on a mission to fulfill a vision, something so compelling that it was there, fully realized from the first step, first word, initial brush-stroke, or notion of a gesture. They were focussed, single-minded, on a path, answering a call, on a pilgrimage to a mysterious site known only to themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, after their arty work is done, they say, \u201cLook! See what I did? That was my vision and now it exists!\u201d It is left as tribute, then, to Art. There may be light snacks and beverages served.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We mere mortals gather, are suitably impressed, then aspire to emulate the artistic act.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If only we had a vision. How do we start if we don\u2019t have one of those?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mean, what if I don\u2019t know what it\u2019s gonna be about? There will be something there when I\u2019m done, sure, but do I have to know what it\u2019s supposed to signify BEFORE I start?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Lennon said, \u201cEvery child is an artist until he\u2019s [sic<\/em>] told he\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s because they don\u2019t have to have a vision and they make it up as they go along. So, they continue building Lego, or scratching a crayon on cardboard, or singing a made-up tune, and art begins. Then, someone sidles up and asks, \u201cWhat\u2019s that supposed to be?\u201d and the poor kid has to make something up and do it quick. Or maybe a tantrum suffices to get them out of that sticky situation, a well-known tool of the artistic temperament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s too much pressure for most of us and we quit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think the vision stuff is mostly just a convenience, an easy answer to a difficult question. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhy did you do that?\u201d is a hard question, because it implies you have to have a reason, and \u201cI dunno,\u201d is not an answer anyone wants to hear. It also makes it sound like you\u2019re not serious, a dilettante at best. And a long, honest answer that reflects the complexity of the process you went through is simply going to get yawns and eye-rolls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understandable. I don\u2019t want to listen to ME talk about ME any more than anyone else does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, yeah, I had a purpose. I journeyed, and I was, and it IS.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have never really had much idea about why I have written something until I\u2019m almost done. By then, I figure it out. Around the 92,347th word. Or the final punch line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s okay with me. I\u2019m not big on isolation or deserts, anyway and any vision I might have in one would be considered derivative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are people, and I have no idea if they are just a vocal minority among arty types, who claim to have been on a mission to fulfill a vision, something so compelling that it was there, fully realized from the first step, first word, initial brush-stroke, or notion of a gesture. They were focussed, … <\/p>\n

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