Visionaries
In the Monday mailbox:
My friend, George, sent me this anonymous quote from “a Gen Z woman's comment re: ambition” :
“I don’t want to be a girlboss. I don’t want to hustle. I simply want to live my life slowly and lay down in a bed of moss with my lover and enjoy the rest of my existence reading books, creating art and loving myself and the people in my life.”
A brave declaration from someone who lives in a society blind to its addiction to hustle — akin to that fish wondering about the nature of water.
Speaking obliquely of visionaries: Today is the 265th anniversary of William Blake's birth. The British poet and artist was born on this date in London in 1757. A non-conformist from childhood, Blake invented a radical (for then) new approach to printing his drawings and etchings onto and with copper plates. He associated with some of the leading radical thinkers of his day, including Thomas Paine and Mary Wollstonecraft and privileged imagination over reason in the creation of both his poetry and images, asserting that ideal forms should be constructed not from observations of nature but from inner visions. All his work expresses a higher kind of innocence—the human spirit triumphing over reason. His work continues to influence millions around the world including hundreds if not thousands of poets, painters, musicians and creatives of all stripes.
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
. . .
When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
I gave you my eyes after you told me you couldn't see a better day coming. –after Jim Harrison