Time with Tom

Who Are You?

I posed a question to Twitter recently, and I got an interesting mix of results. The question, in paraphrase, was: “Do all creatives identify themselves by their craft, regardless of how ‘professional’ they are with it?”

I was defining “professional” as “being published/contracted/what have you.” So, being amateur just means you’re not getting published. Which, even though I have had one picture put up in a travel website, means I am an amateur by these standards.

I have a number of creative friends – most of whom I know through Nano – and they responded rather interestingly.  Most seemed to do what I do, which is identify themselves as their creative pursuit (ie, writer, photographer, etc). At least one told me that when he tells people what he is, he uses his job and not photographer, as he doesn’t want to confuse people and doesn’t feel like having to explain. Meanwhile, a few others have it right on their business cards, even though their main places of work are not photography related.

I tend to go between things. When people ask me what I do for a job, I tell them my actual job. I tend to joke about it, but since it’s what I do for a living, it’s the one I use. But I am not my job.

What I do for a job is a matter of economy. What I do for myself is a matter of living. I am a writer. A photographer. A wannabe musician. A terrible poet. A drawer of stick figures.

My name is Tom, and I am a storyteller. Who are you?

Tom

Inspiration

In ancient Greece, there were the Muses. They would inspire the sculptures, painters, musicians and poets to create great works in their names and in the names of the gods. Things moved on, other societies has similar ideas, about the gods, or Lady Luck, or any thousand creatures, mythological or spiritual, that would slip their way into dreams and give people great ideas. Then, of course, there were the rebels, like Bob Marley or Thomas Paine, who created great works as a way of starting a revolution. There was Van Gogh, who took absinthe. e e cummings and Salvador Dali had new ways of looking at the world, unseen before them. Warren Ellis drinks a lot of beer.

What about the other artists out there? The garage bands, the writers squeaking it out in tiny studio apartments, or the photographer going to rallies and taking pictures of police and crowd? Where do they find inspiration? Yesterday I touched on the fact that I tend to find that I’m far more creative when I’m happy than when I’m down, and I think for me inspiration goes hand-in-hand with that.

The world is a very interesting place. It’s full of evil – war, greed, George W. Bush – but it’s also full of love – that woman that bought the 5 legged puppy so that a circus couldn’t get to it, Doctors Without Borders, the common hug. It’s a crazy place, filled with crazy things and crazy people. If you find yourself stuck and uninspired, do what I like to do best, and take a walk. Hop in your car or on the train/bus, go somewhere you normally don’t find yourself. Take a camera if you want (nothing professional, a point-and-shoot will be fine – this is for relaxation and recharging batteries).  Take pictures, look around. Observe. Watch the way people interact with each other, the way birds will hop around and peck at things hesitantly, the way dogs trot beside their owners, incredibly happy just to be out and trotting.

I don’t have an artist’s statement. Most of them are bullshit anyway. Let’s be honest with one another, half the reason people write those things is to fuck with you and see how gullible you can be. The closest I’ve ever come to an artist statement is the following: “I want to show the world how beautiful it really is.” But that sounds ludicrously pretentious. Black beret wearing, latte drinking, turtleneck donning pretentious. Still, though, when you’re willing to say something like that, how far out of reach could inspiration really be?

About as far as the next tree. Or kitten. Or dripping icicle. Keep your eyes open, kids, you’re surrounded by awesome.

Tom

Haiku 94

Why is it that all
Of the writing jobs I find
Require Science?