Purpose 2.0
Revision
Once you start to receive the same advice from numerous notable sources, those that you can first and foremost trust, you begin to realize that the advice rings true for you. The advice I received over time stems from an essay by Ryan Holiday, an excerpt from George Orwell, a piece by Paul Graham and an individual I know on a more personal level.
It all comes down to wanting to write about something that interests you, something that you can’t wait to get across to others, an idea that stays in the back of your mind and begs you to put pen to notebook, scraps of paper, napkin, anything – so that someone else may see it and share in the idea. Powerful beyond measure, ideas take a firm hold in our minds and drive our actions, our futures.
Orwell describes how and why sheer egoism, aesthetic enthusiasm, historical impulse, and political purpose are the main factors that drive someone to write. He finds that the factors are found in varying ratios in these same writers, depending on who they are in the moment. More on his own work can be found in “Why I Write”, providing you with information that can help you understand other writers and their motivations. It’s a book that I still have to find time to finish as well.
Piggybacking
I still want to gather my own thoughts into something coherent, to learn and grow from writing. I’m beginning to realize that these are secondary goals that will follow my main impulse of getting my realizations and interests out. As for my media portfolio, it can now be found on Flickr![1]
Akin
Psychology is still a passion of mine and will continue to colour my essays (keep this in mind as I move along). The human mind is one of the most complex mechanisms known to us and we won’t have a surplus of its understanding in the near future. It's the reason Dostoevsky’s quote is found on my About page. It’s an interest I share and view as something worthy of understanding, worthy of contributing too.
In any case, writing should only be undertaken if what is being written about touches the person communicating the idea at the deepest level. This mental filter will produce the best art from that individual.
You will know the feeling when it comes over you. Have faith in the process and it will arrive.
