Pearls from artists* # 283
*an ongoing series of quotations – mostly from artists, to artists – that offers wisdom, inspiration, and advice for the sometimes lonely road we are on.
I live alone, perhaps for no good reason, for the reason that I am an impossible creature, set apart by a temperament I have never learned to use as it could be used, thrown off by a word, a glance, a rainy day, or one drink too many. My need to be alone is balanced against my fear of what will happen when suddenly I enter the huge empty silence if I cannot find support there. I go up to Heaven and down to Hell in an hour, and keep alive only by imposing upon myself inexorable routines. I write too many letters and too few poems. It may be outwardly silent here but in the back of my mind is a clamor of human voices, too many needs, hopes, fears. I hardly ever sit still without being haunted by the “undone” and the “unsent.” I often feel exhausted, but it is not my work that tires (work is a rest); it is the effort of pushing away the lives and needs of others before I can come to work with any freshness and zest.
May Sarton in Journal of a Solitude: The intimate diary of a year in the life of a creative woman
Comments are welcome!
Posted on January 17, 2018, in 2018, An Artist's Life, Creative Process, Inspiration, Pearls from Artists, Quotes and tagged "Journal of a Solitude: The intimate diary of a year in the life of a creative woman", exhausted, fears, heaven, Hell, hopes, human voices, letters, May Sarton, need to be alone, needs, poems, temperament, undone, unsent, Washington DC, work. Bookmark the permalink. Comments Off on Pearls from artists* # 283.