A Manifesto for the Next Ten Years.

Source: brainpickings.org via Elena on Pinterest

Comments

[Kristen]

Hmmmm. Well. If that's what it takes, I guess I'm ahead of the game, time-wise. Except for the last point. I have to admit, I don't understand that one. I'm holding it carefully, here - turning it upside down and looking at its backside, but I cannot ascertain the author's meaning. I've even shaken it once, carefully. The boring point, I can cover easily. The nice one would be somebody else's call - I mean really, nice doesn't show up properly in the mirror. I'm glad there was nothing in here about being good at what you do, though.

[Kristen]

Okay. Tracked it back. I think I'd like this guy. But I still don't quite curl up around the last point. It seems counter intuitive. Unless you're thinking in terms of negative space. I can see that. Or the whole "finding the shape in the stone" concept. But I don't see it as an over-all principle, somehow. In my mind, it's all sort of additive. I always tell people, the writer's mind is like a blender - you put everything in there - what your parents told you, what they showed you, what your friends have gone through, what you've read in books and newspapers, what you've seen on the street and in school - religion, experience, hope, fancy - all of it goes in the jar. Then you turn the blender on, and everything is still in there, but it's all recombined.

I suppose, though, that colorwise, that's not a great metaphor. But it does sort of work with quilting material - if you only use the living room floor and not an actual blender. But it was the little brain I was talking about, and I still stand by the idea.