My friend Mark Tiedemann is a successful writer, having published many science fiction books over his life. He has a habit of being constantly interesting. His blog is Distal Muse. Today, he wrote about the importance of art. Here's an excerpt from today's post, his 1,000th:
I have also talked a great deal about art. Another bias. I believe that without art, we are nothing. Mammals breeding and eating, contributing nothing beyond the recycling of organic resources. Art—music, literature, optical, sculpture, architecture, and all combinations thereof—is our expression of everything worthwhile. Art comes out of love. If there is no love, there is no art, and without art we admit to being blind and deaf to love.
That’s one reason I have no patience with those who discount it, censor it, betray it, even destroy it. Worse still (because they have a notion of it) those who see it as nothing but a commodity.
I like to create video interviews of interesting people. One of the most compelling interviews I have made was that of Ben Fainer, a holocaust survivor. He spent six tortured years in several camps. I loved Ben's attitude. He was patient and forgiving in spite of all that he had been through. And he was a wise man too. Many other people have been moved by Bens words too. More than 100,000 people have viewed his video. He died a few years after we created his video, so I was especially glad that his words were preserved.
I had another friend who almost died in WWII. Like Ben, she was Jewish. Susan was in her late 80s when she mentioned that she had escaped from Europe to the U.S. through Japan. It sounded like an amazing story. She agreed to tell me all about her escape. We agreed to meet the following week on a Tuesday. She died that weekend, so we will never know her story. Her death has served as a reminder to me that once I recognize something to be important I need to schedule it and do it promptly. Or else.
And I know that life isn't always that simple. There are conflicting platitudes that remind us that it's not that simple: A) "He who hesitates is lost." And B) "Look before you leap."
When I conclude that something is important, however, I try to jump at it. You see, I'm in my 60s. I hope to be around for decades, but I might get the horrible diagnosis tomorrow. Or that car might swerve into my lane next week.
We are all traveling along a Life Arc and there is nothing you can do to slow it down. Your only option is to fill it up with quality experiences. Schedule it and make it happen, Laura Vanderkam reminds us over and over. Do that, or don't do that, thereby allowing the sands of time to slip through your fingers. Those are your only options. Live your life or fail to live your life.
Here comes the next hour. What are you going to do with it?
I haven't written much lately, but I'll be back--I've got a lot of topics I'd like to explore.
In the meantime, I'm still reveling in my memories from my recent visit to Yellowstone National Park. Here are two more photos from Yellowstone. These photos capture some of the immense spaces and textures of the park.
Over the past week I had a chance to get away from the Internet and to see some stunning sights.
Animal sightings included being 80 yards from a grizzly bear eating a bison in a river. Lots of bison and elk. We also spotted a fox and a coyote. Perfect weather and lots of hiking in one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. I only had my little point and shoot camera--no telephoto lens, but as the saying goes, you shoot with the camera you have.
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