So happy you're "back", Matt! A few random comments below:
>"every book reflects its author’s personal experience" -- As does every work of art reflect the creator's personal experience. What I find fascinating (for me at least) is how the original idea for a book is "high-jacked" by the character into an unintended direction that leads to my deeper understanding of my experiences and of me.
>"sometimes the quality of personal-ness is more explicitly visible on the surface of a given work"--For the reason above, I find the opposite. The 'personal-ness' is found/discovered below the surface.
>"true creativity, more than just skill or self-expression, requires listening to something deeper"-- YES!! Listening to others, I find truths that inform myself, and listening to my characters, they reveal much about me.
>"resistance not just as a block to productivity, but as a psychological threshold"--ABSOLUTELY!
>"drawn to nonduality"-- Actually, I'm drawn to the duality in humans (including myself). It's an aspect of being that I love to explore -- and use in my stories.
>"signs of cultural unraveling"..."strange convergence of personal inspiration and collective cultural crisis, proposing that our creative blocks and breakthroughs are bound up with more profound questions of identity, meaning, and truth"--And the weight of the cultural unraveling is both a distraction and a divergence from my writing.
Thanks, Leslie. I appreciate your sensitive reflections. And I'm glad the writing is connecting. Here's hoping the weight of the cultural unraveling can not only serve to dissipate us but ultimately catapult us into greater centered clarity.
So good to see you back in this space, Matt. This book - and the accompanying class - are still reverberating in my writing/self/soul ... which is not something that happens to me often. It was truly life altering and I regularly think back on the lectures and re-read my notes so I’m thrilled to know I’ll be able to get my grubby mitts on a copy in published format...the new preface is pure delight and I checked every box!! Now to go and root around in the Notes...I’ve been dwelling in my own Great Silence for a while so am rarely on this platform anymore. Looking forward to what comes next!
Glad to see you back here, Matt, even if you decide to switch from Substack to "elsewhere". As long as you let us know where you are, your followers will tag along.
So happy you're "back", Matt! A few random comments below:
>"every book reflects its author’s personal experience" -- As does every work of art reflect the creator's personal experience. What I find fascinating (for me at least) is how the original idea for a book is "high-jacked" by the character into an unintended direction that leads to my deeper understanding of my experiences and of me.
>"sometimes the quality of personal-ness is more explicitly visible on the surface of a given work"--For the reason above, I find the opposite. The 'personal-ness' is found/discovered below the surface.
>"true creativity, more than just skill or self-expression, requires listening to something deeper"-- YES!! Listening to others, I find truths that inform myself, and listening to my characters, they reveal much about me.
>"resistance not just as a block to productivity, but as a psychological threshold"--ABSOLUTELY!
>"drawn to nonduality"-- Actually, I'm drawn to the duality in humans (including myself). It's an aspect of being that I love to explore -- and use in my stories.
>"signs of cultural unraveling"..."strange convergence of personal inspiration and collective cultural crisis, proposing that our creative blocks and breakthroughs are bound up with more profound questions of identity, meaning, and truth"--And the weight of the cultural unraveling is both a distraction and a divergence from my writing.
Thanks, Leslie. I appreciate your sensitive reflections. And I'm glad the writing is connecting. Here's hoping the weight of the cultural unraveling can not only serve to dissipate us but ultimately catapult us into greater centered clarity.
Glad you're back, Matt!
Thanks, Grant.
Thank you, Matt.
Thank you, Camila.
So good to see you back in this space, Matt. This book - and the accompanying class - are still reverberating in my writing/self/soul ... which is not something that happens to me often. It was truly life altering and I regularly think back on the lectures and re-read my notes so I’m thrilled to know I’ll be able to get my grubby mitts on a copy in published format...the new preface is pure delight and I checked every box!! Now to go and root around in the Notes...I’ve been dwelling in my own Great Silence for a while so am rarely on this platform anymore. Looking forward to what comes next!
Thank you, Melanie. It's moving for me that the book and class were so moving for you.
Glad to see you back here, Matt, even if you decide to switch from Substack to "elsewhere". As long as you let us know where you are, your followers will tag along.
Thank you for that. Encouraging. And very nice to see you.