ithinkyoushould. Believe it when your Teacher used to say “Good Writing is Re-Writing.”
In the life I lead outside of my “writing life,”—which let me be frank, is an extension of my inner life, I usually wonder what it would be like to have an Editor. Some[warm]body to take back, pull back, reorient, readjust, and generally rethink some of the decisions I’ve made to date.
I used to say that in my Life, I have not ever considered “regret” and/or “guilt” as an option, and I’ve generally forged ahead either mindful of, or blissfully ignorant of the consequences. Yes, I have been naive, and arrogant, and mean, and sh*tty, as well, I have been selfless, generous, and merciful. Naturally, there are other adjectives to describe my behaviours in the past: friends, frenemies, acquaintances, and relatives could do a terrific job of telling You about Me, but this is not so much about what They think, as what I am endeavouring to wonder what an Editor might say or do vis the story of my Life.
Indeed, it’s an interesting situation on which to speculate. And it leads me to really consider what any individual in pursuit of his or her creative craft needs to compromise to get “it” out to a mass audience. Like the author who pours his/her heart and soul into their first opus that miraculously gets turned into a Movie, that bears little or no resemblance to the original manuscript. To the musician who pens a groundbreaking anthem that gets used to sell sneakers and laundry detergent.
Even as I complete entry upon entry of this blog/site, and, at the very real risk of “History Repeating Itself,” [which, OK, is not such a bad thing, because yes Virginia, mostly everything Good has been "done" before], I often quickly reread what I write in order to put down the most accurate interpretation of the thoughts my busy mind cooks up, in addition to pathologically minimizing the amount of typos that escape the 1st, 2nd and 3rd drafts.
Yes, Life with an Editor could be sweet indeed. Sometimes we could all use the repackaging gift of these individuals to make our messages and in turn our lives that much mo’bettah. But for now, I think I’ll keep at it, kicking my own ass and taking responsibility for the silent indignations of my preoccupied mind. You?
ithinkyoushould.Keep Some Things Sacred and Define Yourself as Distinct from the [Counter] Culture.
There’s something about getting things off your chest that is not only cathartic, but deeply cleansing and therapeutic. We now live in a culture where things once-considered taboo, and/or underground have been brought screaming like hell fire and damnation into the mainstream. In some respects this is good and healthy and in other respects it leaves nothing to the imagination and pollutes the energy with all things negative and nasty. In other words, our desire to unearth and expose all things formerly considered Unmentionable has created a vibe of dysfunctional contentedness. Such that anything goes.
With this Anything Goes mentality comes a kind of recklessness of which few are blissfully unaware, deceptively unwilling, and charismatically unconcerned about the inevitable outcome. Knowing that we cannot necessarily “predict” the future has created a kind of “safe haven” for the dysfunction.
Take Drug Culture as an example. Recreational drugs were once considered the domain of a particular sub-culture, most specifically the counter-culture. They believed in Free-ish Love, Free-ish Sex, and a Free-ish Society. This counter-revolution developed as a result of restrictions and laws [instituted by people], telling people that they “couldn’t,” or they “shouldn’t,” and so on. So naturally when you get a system telling you “No,” a group will eventually rise up telling that system “Yes.” So in a very real sense that counter-culture “worked.” People felt empowered and entitled to say No and embrace the dubious consequences. The consequences being drug addiction, diseased bodies, and perhaps a counter-culture mindset that was rightly or wrongly suspicious of the status quo.
In our world today we are experiencing the “fall-out” of that counter-culture in the sense that it—whatever “it” is your poison—is now mainstream culture. Nothing is taboo, and few things are sacred. For example, we can now use our freedom of choice to experiment with drugs knowing that we may or may not become addicted. If by some chance we become addicted, we have the option of using readily available and immediately accessible therapies set up to counter-act our addiction. And we can become life-long users of those remedies to either sustain or manage our addiction knowing that we will always have this tendency toward addiction. What’s “new” on the addiction-scene is Image [the plastic surgery obsessed], Sex [too much or too little as the case may be], and before that it was Food [Obesity, Anorexia, Bulimia]. Perhaps what would be more appropriate would be to call these various addictions our Addiction to Pleasure [perhaps a direct result of the Boomers’ parents having to suppress and modify their behaviors due to War, and whatever ailed them/us prior to that generation].
But that’s not my point. My point is that addiction is so currently mainstream as to not warrant a second glance or anything more than an cursory investigation. If we are abusers it was/is likely that we have been exposed to abuse. If we are addicts chances are that there is addiction in our DNA, if we are loathe to empower ourselves, it is likely that our foremothers and forefathers were weak in character. Meaning that everything can be explained away which leaves no room for personal responsibility. Why I wonder do some of us not choose Health over Illness? Is this the cost and price of Freedom and Choice?
We have been given so much of the proverbial rope that we can hang ourselves—twice, if we are so inclined. We can rack up addictions like notches on our belts. And we can excuse and reason-away our behaviours as simply as we get hooked [or not] on/to whatever we fancy. Those of us who go the rehab-route can be life-long members without so much as a bat of an eye. In fact, it is a condition of therapy to assume that one will offend again.
But OK. Recognition and rehabilitation is GOOD. Don’t get me wrong. I do not believe in an endless cycle of punishment because that too is counter-productive. But endless cycles of relapse and lack of responsibility numbs the mind and destroys the soul. Just stay away they tell you. But triggers are everywhere. In fact, Culture itself is a trigger.
[Now pause, for the tidy, packaged solution].
At the end of the day, what should remain Sacred is our sanctity for Living, Distinct and Independent of the Masses. Without depression, anxiety, and negativity. Instead of stuffing the Void with things that are superficially instantly gratifying, try stuffing it with reality. Yes, Life is Hard, but Excess is Overrated.
