"There is a special throne in heaven for poets, who labor in obscurity. The rest of us harbor an unexpressed hope for fame and glory. You might be tempted to write for a market. You might be tempted to ride the crest of a trend. That kind of writing is about as stable and fulfilling as day trading. Write what moves you. Write what interests you. Take a cure from the poets, bless their underfunded little hearts."
{Monica Wood in The Pocket Muse}
I have to pause and think about what I write, then. If I pull out my journal, I'll see that it portrays me as angry and sad, because that's the only time I seem to fill its pages. It reveals how I neglect to always record happy things. I think, though, that it's because I write those things here. I have to share the good, effuse about the joyful things that happen. I think quite often on why I actually write a blog. It's kind of presumptuous, if you think about it. Does it really matter if I think that Let the Great World Spin was a fantastic read? If I quit writing every day, would anyone be deeply affected? Does my little bitty website, read by only a handful of people (mostly close friends and relatives), actually make any impact on the world? The answer to all of these is no, not really. It doesn't hugely affect the world.
It mostly affects me. I guess writing my blog is actually rather selfish.
{by retroNaNa on Etsy}
I know I write about many frivolous things, or at least items that can easily be deemed a luxury, even if they are affordable--art prints, handmade clothing, interior decor, even books. Sometimes I wonder if I should write about something more important. But this is what I've decided: I write about these "luxury" things because they are a sign of something good. They are the product of creativity, and they reveal something about our world. Would we ever create anything if we did not believe that there is enough goodness in the world to make it worth bringing anything into it?
Maybe I should phrase it like this: sometimes, when you're just going from one part of your day to the next and on this continuous mundane routine, you forget to stop and think. You get used to your surroundings and tired of them. Sometimes, maybe even often, it's time to pause and think. When I get on the internet and find something beautiful and interesting, then, I stop and think about why it is lovely, and why I like it. Then I write about it and share it, frivolous though it may be, because I hope that someone else will also pause, and think, and enjoy a moment.
the first and third images in this post are listed under the creative commons on flickr. if you share them, please post attribution as their owners have requested. you should also read the poem that was posted with the second image here, called writing through windows.
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