Saturday, November 6, 2010

On existential loneliness

Is existential loneliness essential to creativity?
I find that in my darkest moments come my best writing.
Some writers go off on writer's retreats which often involve journeys into the woods or various places of deep solitude, and close themselves off from society and disruption.
Does this help or hinder?
If poets are such a depressed lot and are always in a state of self-sanctuary, is this really necessary?
Might we just channel the muse in the middle of traffic,
grab a pen and write on a napkin? (done it)
Is pressuring the muse to perform the same as pressuring a lover and does it result in an unsatisfactory result on both sides?
Does it contribute to writer's block?
It is also to be noted that some of the best works of poetry and literature are often created in a writers deepest moments of blackness.
Is
true loneliness then, the key to greater creativity?
If one finds
real happiness (if it even exists),
is it ever the end of the true longing one feels in the soul?
Is that why many poets and writers choose for themselves subconsciously(and maybe even consciously) lives and loves that we know will never really satisfy.
For to lose love, that is forgivable...
to lose the muse is to incite madness and heartbreak of an even more painful and enduring kind.
©2008∞Copperhead


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