The artist Mary Todd Beam wrote about what art means to her, in the Jan/Feb issue of the Artist magazine, and it struck me how much her words of wisdom apply to writers as well. Here's part of her essay (I've taken the liberty of adding "and writing/writers" where she's written "artists"):
"I believe there's something only you can give to art and writing, if you give up false notions of beauty, if you resist trying to win praise, if you're willing to allow your very heart and being to appear in your work. I see now, after years on this journey, that the path is long and the destination passes in and out of sight. I hope I'm never 'there.' I hope I never become self-satisfied. our goal as artists and writers may be to live with the fact of death. What we gain along the way of the journey is not necessarily an accumulation of beautiful paintings or writing but a greater awareness of what it means to be alive."
