 |
| Transit of Venus, June 2012 |
To sum it all up, if you want to write, if you want to create, you must be the most sublime fool that God ever turned out and sent rambling.
You must write every single day of your life.
You must read dreadful, dumb books and glorious books, and let them wrestle in beautiful fights inside your head, vulgar one moment, brilliant the next.
You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to snuff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads.
I wish for you a wrestling match with your Creative Muse that will last a lifetime.
I wish craziness and foolishness and madness upon you.
May you live with hysteria and out of it make fine stories.
Which finally means, may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.
Ray Bradbury, How to Be Madder than Captain Ahab
(August 22, 1920 - June 5, 2012
R.I.P., Mr. B.
ReplyDeleteWishing you a sublime transit.
How gorgeous. Out of that love, remake a world. Brings a tear to my eye.
ReplyDeleteI do think, though, that only a man could say "you must write every day" and believe it. They never did have to wrangle the children.
Elizabeth, I was thinking of you last night and wondering if you've read Claire Bidwell Smith's "The Rules of Inheritance". It's a beautiful memoir about very tragic circumstances and her writing reminds me of yours. Taut and resonating and beautiful.
That's a lovely description of the creative life, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you took your camera (or phone camera) for a walk yesterday! Those are wonderful images that you posted.
a once in a millenium man
ReplyDeletekeeping us company with words
and challenging us with worlds
r.i.p.
Magnificent combination of beautiful image and wise words from a man of great imagination. Thanks, E.
ReplyDeletex0 N2
Thanks for this lovely remembrance of the good-hearted Mr. Bradbury.
ReplyDelete