Good writers are people who pay attention to language, are interested in telling the truth, and are in some ways finding themselves inoculated against the fads of what will sell, what will please. Good literature almost always goes against the grain of the culture: interpreting it, subtly criticizing it, maybe not polemically. Pastors are right in the center of deceit and corruption and bad use of language. We have a commitment to use words accurately and honestly. Good writing does not come easy; it takes a lot of discipline, a lot of self-criticism. A lot of people in my position want to know how to write, and after talking to them for a while I realize, “You don’t want to write, you want to get published; you’re not willing to go through the disciplines, the rejections.” Rejections are often compliments, because we’re not writing for popular taste or the stuff that just titillates people, what makes them feel good or bad or whatever. Propaganda is the worst kind of writing; there’s almost something pornographic about it. It just dehumanizes what’s going on, and we’re just filled with it right now politically, so I think of the importance of poets and novelists, because I think of poets as the high priests of the language. No poet writes in order to get published, not in America, so anybody who takes the path of poetry is going a lonely way and a not lucrative way.
Falling of Bikes at Inappropriate Times
Things would be certainly easier if I could feel true connections, and less endless questioning.
I fell off my bike in the middle of a busy intersection, and felt a connection immediately.
That same day I sat in the midst of strangers, and felt no connection but instead a wall of silence that was frustrating.
But just a few days before I unexpectedly found myself the subject of a pleasant surprise to people I thought would never give my existence a second thought. And that’s all I wanted - to know that I have real connections. Even if they don’t happen every second of every day, I would be happy for just a few seconds every other day.
And all I can hope is that I learn to get better at expressing my appreciation for being able to connect with others, and be more patient when it doesn’t happen all the time.
Because I am more than just the signature at the bottom of an email.
I walk without moving forward
We never arrive
Never reach where we are
Not the past
the present is untouchable
Tonari no Totoro is my all time favorite Miyazaki film, and has been since I first saw it (before I can even remember!). I couldn’t be happier with this piece. :)
Literally the Best Thing Ever: Girls
Agreed - why is LH the perfect female? And words can not express how happy I am that she exists!
