Poessay: Timeless Queries

"Are marriage and writing compatible? Co habitable? To be an artist, and create well one must be submerged in his art? at what price? Is it worth it?... Living according to the social norms? Or should one follow their passion?" Zen asked

She is a talented, passionate, caring, young woman and the timeless queries she posed had been uttered innumerable times by countless people before.

"Are marriage and writing compatible? Co habitable?"

Yes and no - I will substitute creative work for writing. In an overwhelming number of cases the conclusion would be no - no they are not compatible. Marriage (or long term serious relationships) demand nothing less than 100% commitment - and the same is true of Art.

But there is a yes to above too where (in rare cases) the spouses are immersed full into each others passions.

And in still rarer cases there is the tightrope walk between commitment to passion and to more temporal affairs. This act is fraught with forebodings and in danger of succumbing into an uncharted abyss.

To be an artist, and create well one must be submerged in his/her art?

Is there any other way? Passion and commitment are hard task masters demanding complete allegiance and subservience. There are no half measures.

...at what price?

Is there a price that can be assigned to passion and commitment? If you inquire of the price you cannot afford it.

Is it worth it? Living according to the social norms?

Absolutely. The other way is one littered with thorny what-ifs and despair.

This is the conundrum every creative person faces at some point in life. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote succinctly about that moment and the choices one faces. "The hour of that choice is the crisis of your history; and see that you hold yourself fast by the intellect."

Or should one follow their passion?"

There is an allusion alluded to here of a subterranean fear - that of affordability. Can one follow the passion, throw caution out the window and be prepared to endure the fallout?

There are no easy answers in life - only tough choices. The answers appear as distant mileposts and as we continue the tread they fade behind us - the once troubling queries humbled by dogged determination and replaced by yet others lurking on the distant horizon.

Life becomes a bed of roses traversed on strands of cobwebs lined with thorns in full sight of humanity. The sighs and pains have to be endured with forced smiles. Enigma, conundrum, dichotomy, dream and illusion, taken in stride, balanced on the tightrope of hope and passion over the dark sea of despair. There is no looking back - or down - ever! and the 'hour of that choice is the crisis of your history; and see that you hold yourself fast by the intellect.'

***

having made the choice
the eternal smile
remains unhampered
unconquered, filled with
pride and resolve
- screen, paper, canvas
mere medium
for bleeding fingers