--- Original Message --- Date: 1/12/2007 From: "Robert Genn Twice Weekly Letter" Subject: Letters to an artist
Letters to an artist January 12, 2007 Dear James, In 1903, the poet Rainer Maria Rilke responded by letter to a young man seeking his advice. Rilke eventually wrote ten letters now collectively known and much published as "Letters to a Young Poet." They are heartfelt advice from a successful (but still struggling) artist to another who was deeply mired in self-doubt. The classic language of these letters soars in beauty as well as lofty good sense. His idealism is applicable today to all who might pursue any sort of creative activity. Yesterday, on a pathside bench deep in a blustery, storm-destroyed forest, I reread the letters. Here, partly in direct quotation and partly in condensed summation, are some of Rilke's ideas: Your work needs to be independent of others' work. You must not compare yourself to others. No one can help you. You have to help yourself. Criticism leads to misunderstandings and defeatism. Work from necessity and your compulsion to do it. Work on what you know and what you are sure you love. Don't observe yourself too closely, just let it happen. Don't let yourself be controlled by too much irony. Live in and love the activity of your work. Be free of thoughts of sin, guilt and misgiving. Be touched by the beautiful anxiety of life. Be patient with the unresolved in your heart. Try to be in love with the questions themselves. Love your solitude and try to sing with its pain. Be gentle to all of those who stay behind. Your inner self is worth your entire concentration. Allow your art to make extraordinary demands on you. Bear your sadness with greater trust than your joy. Do not persecute yourself with how things are going. It's good to be solitary, because solitude is difficult. It's good to love, because love is difficult. You are not a prisoner of anything or anyone. Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) was born in Czechoslovakia and died in Switzerland. Dogged by fragile health and the constant search for inexpensive and healthful accommodation, he anxiously moved from one climate to another. Considered the greatest modern poet in the German language, Rilke counselled the young poet, known only as Mr. Kappus, over a five-year period. No evidence exists that they ever met. Best regards, Robert PS: "Being an artist means not numbering or counting, but ripening like a tree, which doesn't force its sap, standing confidently in storms, not afraid that summer may not come." (Rainer Maria Rilke) Esoterica: Two main themes--trust and patience--pervade Rilke's letters. "Always trust yourself and your own feelings, as opposed to arguments and discussions," he says. "If it turns out that you are wrong, then the natural growth of your inner life will eventually guide you to other insights. Allow your judgments a silent, undisturbed development, which, like all progress, must come from deep within and cannot be forced or hastened. Everything is gestation and then birthing. To let each impression and each embryo of a feeling come to completion, entirely in itself, in the dark, in the unsayable, the unconscious, beyond the reach of one's own understanding, and with deep humility and patience to wait for the hour when a new clarity is born: this is what it means to live as an artist." Current clickback: If you would like to see selected, illustrated responses to the last letter, "Cleaning paint brushes," please go to: http://clicks.robertgenn.com/cleaning-brushes.php If you would like to comment or add your own opinion, information or observations to this or other letters, please do so. Just click 'reply' on this letter or write [EMAIL PROTECTED] Give the gift of the twice-weekly letters. We are currently snail-mailing a free copy of The Painter's Keys (the book) to current subscribers who go to the URL below and send us the names and email addresses of five or more of their creatively-minded friends. No strings, just a thank-you. We make it easy. We even send your friends a personal letter to let them know the twice-weekly connection is from you. http://www.painterskeys.com/clickbacks/giftscribe.php Your letters to the world. A Premium Listing in the Painter's Keys Directory is the most effective thing an artist can do to be tastefully and respectably noticed. This listing--really a mini web page--costs $100 per year--and we do all the set-up. You can find out how well it might work for you at http://www.painterskeys.com/art-directory.asp Yes, please go ahead and forward this letter to a friend. If you think a friend or fellow artist may find value in this material, please feel free to forward it. This does not mean that they will automatically be subscribed to the Twice-Weekly Letter. They have to do it voluntarily and can find out about it by going to http://www.painterskeys.com In compliance with the welcome legislation on spamming, our mailing address is: Painter's Keys, 12711 Beckett Rd., Surrey, B.C., Canada, V4A 2W9. - Subscribe free; http://painterskeys.com/subscribe/ - Unsubscribe free; http://www.painterskeys.com/#subs - Change my address free; http://www.painterskeys.com/#ec (c) Copyright 2007 Robert Genn. If you wish to copy this material to other publications or mail lists, please ask for permission by writing [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thanks for your friendship. _______________________________________________ NetBehaviour mailing list [email protected] http://www.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour
