Listen Here - Podcast Style
The object isn’t to make art,
its to be in that wonderful state
which makes art inevitable.Robert Henri
An Empty Stack?
Freeing regrets
sharing resentment
draws in the applause
As I trade one addiction
for the dopamine rush
of recognition
I may be here to heal
or maybe just to be seen
Heard
Words
In that initial swell of recognition
I get drunk on the sweet taste of hype
Chasing boxes
too full to see the frayed edges
where the fringe reveals
Slowly getting lost
in the spreading silence
of absence
Staring into a mirror like a window
Eluding any reflection
What will I write
tomorrow?
© Jamie Millard
Why do I write?
The whole is never the sum of its parts.
Do I write to entertain myself or to entertain others?
Am I addicted to the ache of my own voice?
The adjudicating critique of my glaring open rates make me question whether my writing resonates. I wrote a book for the pleasure to give it away. It was never a commercial venture. I put the book together to release and free the words that consumed me. The words that I never wanted to die with me in the fire.
What is poetry for?
Is what I do even art?
Does it transform?
Getting caught up in comparison turns the mirror into a window. Looking out to write versus looking in. Reacting to please is a hedonic treadmill. At times I catch myself in that box. Thanks so much to all of you here who meet me where I am. In the end I am here to live in-to the questions, writing for my own ripping growth out on the serrated edges of being.
Who am I?
Is a question never really looking for an answer. I write to live into that very question, witnessing the one who asked it slowly disappear.
The act of creation is an attempt to enter a mysterious realm. A longing to transcend. What we create allows us to share glimpses of an inner landscape, one that is beyond our understanding. Art is our portal to the unseen world.
Rick Rubin
Thank you for being here. A full audio, podcast style can be found under the main heading.
Lots of Love,
Jamie
I love all of this....the vulnerability and humility required to ask 'who am I' while knowing there may never be an answer....and yet the asking IS the answer.
Funny that you quote Rick Rubin...I'm currently reading his book!
If your mirror is momentarily a window, then I am standing on the other side of the pane waving hello at you , beckoning you to just come outside and play. Eventually, you'll need to go back inside for rest and solitude and contemplation. Knowing the truth that both actions are leading you more into balance and wholeness...bringing you closer to being who you are. ❤️
Beautiful! I hear you, swimming in the ocean of words can often feel lonely, it is hard to feel our own wave when we are the wave that creates the ripples. Keep going! You are an amazing poet and writer and your words surely transformed me. 💕🙏 I'm endlessly grateful for your bravery to put your words out! We don't create to get something, we create because we are.