Pamela Poole's Blog - Posts Tagged "artists"
If Just Living Isn't Enough, You Might Be Divergent
"Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower."
--Hans Christian Andersen, The Butterfly
In my last blog, I began my call for creative people to free themselves from the slavery of a little screen full of the latest and greatest technology and remember who you are. Inspiration is all around us and can come anytime, anywhere, conveniently or not. Don’t miss it—be ready! The world needs your detours from the new normal into your role as a “divergent.”
Pablo Picasso once said, “The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.” Who talks like that anymore? Who stands still long enough to consider the sky or a spider’s web? We’ve been conditioned to have the attention span of a goldfish, and it is wrecking our relationships and other important aspects of our lives.
I was (thankfully) born before computers were household necessities in the United States, so I can say with conviction that had anyone told me how distracted Americans would be right after the turn of the century, I’d never have grasped that we’d have sold ourselves so cheaply. Sure, I’d read or heard about dystopian classic books, but naively assumed that since they'd explored so many possible consequences of losing what makes us human, society would consider themselves forewarned and would avoid the pitfalls of the road we were on.
That was in my younger days. Now absolutely nothing surprises me. Nothing.
Social satirist Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel Brave New World, written in 1931 and published the next year, was written in reaction to his disgust in American values during a visit here. Outraged by the American culture of youth, commercialism, sexual promiscuity, and the obsessive, self-directed and inward-looking nature of so many citizens, he explored these pet peeves on a stage of general dystopian fear of losing individual identity in a world racing headlong into the technology of the future.
In that new world, Huxley set up the “World State” to establish a stable global society that permanently limits the population so that they are easily managed, conditioned to accept their station in the contrived life the State has ordered for them. Methods of controlling their lives include getting rid of natural reproduction and meaningful relationships, brainwashing children through education systems, discouraging critical thinking (serious books are banned, and movies have the added element of touch sensations and deal in pure emotion), and individual action and initiative is considered abnormal and reprehensible. The well-adjusted citizens in that society spend their leisure in communal activities that demand no thought.
Yes, you read that right--I did say he wrote that book in 1931. Don't take my word for it, use your critical thinking skills while it's still legal and go look it up. And while I personally can’t stop the train that the technology-driven masses are on, I can encourage creative people to smell the proverbial roses while they’re still growing. Better yet, go out and paint them plein air, or cut some to put in a cut glass vase and rise to the challenge to paint all the reflections in a still life! Poets, word-smith your observations on the delicate colors and textures in a rose, or the irony that such beauty comes with thorns. Musicians, craft a melody that makes us pause to listen to your interpretation, and make it so catchy that we hum it the rest of the day. Gardeners, brainstorm how to gift the world with a new variety of hardier roses. Architects, design a setting to show off roses to best advantage, and provide a bench where we can sit to contemplate their beauty.
Get out in the sunshine for a walk or bike ride, especially one that will likely take you to a bend in the road where you’ll stop in your tracks and gasp at the view. Think critically, be an individual, don’t follow the sheep glued to little screens while they follow one another off a cliff.
Embrace life as a divergent. Rise above the machines and show the world what it means to be human.
If you'd like to read some meaningful yet light adventures about creative divergents, check into my novel Painter Place and the upcoming new release HUGO in a few weeks on December 8. HUGO will take readers into Arles, France in 1989 for the Centenniel of Vincent's life there. For more synopsis of the series, check out my "Books" section on my FASO website at www.pamelapoole.com
Painter Place
--Hans Christian Andersen, The Butterfly
In my last blog, I began my call for creative people to free themselves from the slavery of a little screen full of the latest and greatest technology and remember who you are. Inspiration is all around us and can come anytime, anywhere, conveniently or not. Don’t miss it—be ready! The world needs your detours from the new normal into your role as a “divergent.”
Pablo Picasso once said, “The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.” Who talks like that anymore? Who stands still long enough to consider the sky or a spider’s web? We’ve been conditioned to have the attention span of a goldfish, and it is wrecking our relationships and other important aspects of our lives.
I was (thankfully) born before computers were household necessities in the United States, so I can say with conviction that had anyone told me how distracted Americans would be right after the turn of the century, I’d never have grasped that we’d have sold ourselves so cheaply. Sure, I’d read or heard about dystopian classic books, but naively assumed that since they'd explored so many possible consequences of losing what makes us human, society would consider themselves forewarned and would avoid the pitfalls of the road we were on.
That was in my younger days. Now absolutely nothing surprises me. Nothing.
Social satirist Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel Brave New World, written in 1931 and published the next year, was written in reaction to his disgust in American values during a visit here. Outraged by the American culture of youth, commercialism, sexual promiscuity, and the obsessive, self-directed and inward-looking nature of so many citizens, he explored these pet peeves on a stage of general dystopian fear of losing individual identity in a world racing headlong into the technology of the future.
In that new world, Huxley set up the “World State” to establish a stable global society that permanently limits the population so that they are easily managed, conditioned to accept their station in the contrived life the State has ordered for them. Methods of controlling their lives include getting rid of natural reproduction and meaningful relationships, brainwashing children through education systems, discouraging critical thinking (serious books are banned, and movies have the added element of touch sensations and deal in pure emotion), and individual action and initiative is considered abnormal and reprehensible. The well-adjusted citizens in that society spend their leisure in communal activities that demand no thought.
Yes, you read that right--I did say he wrote that book in 1931. Don't take my word for it, use your critical thinking skills while it's still legal and go look it up. And while I personally can’t stop the train that the technology-driven masses are on, I can encourage creative people to smell the proverbial roses while they’re still growing. Better yet, go out and paint them plein air, or cut some to put in a cut glass vase and rise to the challenge to paint all the reflections in a still life! Poets, word-smith your observations on the delicate colors and textures in a rose, or the irony that such beauty comes with thorns. Musicians, craft a melody that makes us pause to listen to your interpretation, and make it so catchy that we hum it the rest of the day. Gardeners, brainstorm how to gift the world with a new variety of hardier roses. Architects, design a setting to show off roses to best advantage, and provide a bench where we can sit to contemplate their beauty.
Get out in the sunshine for a walk or bike ride, especially one that will likely take you to a bend in the road where you’ll stop in your tracks and gasp at the view. Think critically, be an individual, don’t follow the sheep glued to little screens while they follow one another off a cliff.
Embrace life as a divergent. Rise above the machines and show the world what it means to be human.
If you'd like to read some meaningful yet light adventures about creative divergents, check into my novel Painter Place and the upcoming new release HUGO in a few weeks on December 8. HUGO will take readers into Arles, France in 1989 for the Centenniel of Vincent's life there. For more synopsis of the series, check out my "Books" section on my FASO website at www.pamelapoole.com
Painter Place
