a letter.

Sophie--of this aforementioned collection of musings--recognized me on her blog. And so I have this to say:  

Your words made my heart leap to my throat. Such recognition is akin to being spied by another while looking through the keyhole oneself—thrilling, in a word. I can’t express the evocation of charm in my pleadingly optimistic being that our mutual understanding elicits.

In my final year at a small university in Seattle I am embedded in the heart of the city yet balancing on the precipice that separates comfortable academia from the thrill of boundless and unprotected Life. And in the middle of the extremely tactile and the extremely cognitive is this fissure we can fill any way we choose.

Andreas Huyssen wrote this:

“The past is not simply there in memory, but it must be articulated to become memory. The fissure that opens up between experiencing an event and remembering it in representation is unavoidable. Rather than remembering or ignoring it, this split should be understood as a powerful stimulant for cultural and artistic creativity.”

It is odd to be surrounded by friends who have those tactile goals, easily definable in society’s structure. Most of the time it’s grounding to be surrounded by people possessing such certainty of profession. But what about the kind of goal that doesn’t slide so easily into an already carved out cavern?

My ideal is to be in a collaborative and creative relationship with similarly oriented people, where we produce work that is at once meaningful to ourselves and the larger collective community. Thus, our personal fulfillment—this powerful force of life and love and questioning but foundational curiosity—can be transferred to a larger audience, to humanity, enriching other’s lives as well. Inspiration by ideal, by living a life of creative and dynamic exploration.

And so, this is why your press and your words buoy my own soul with renewed concentration... and hope of creative fulfillment.

Thanks!