Walt Whitman portrait by Fabrizio Cassetta
'The secret of it all, is to write in the gush, the throb, the flood, of the moment - to put things down without deliberation - without worrying about their style - without waiting for a fit time or place. I always worked that way. I took the first scrap of paper, the first doorstep, the first desk, and wrote - wrote, wrote…By writing at the instant the very heartbeat of life is caught.' ~ Walt Whitman
True, true, true! Seize the magic of the moment. Go with the intoxicating flow. You know Whitman really practiced what he preached when you read his poetry - it's full of energy, passion, verve and enthusiasm. The words seem to sing off the page in a high exultant voice. I don't think any other voice in literature comes close to outdoing Whitman in this regard. His voice is unique and daring. True and honest and heart-filled, marked by the moment of emotion in which his words were first created.
So here's to letting ourselves live in the moment - and writing in it!
~Siobhán
We all need reminding of this, sometimes. I have a terrible habit of over-editing everything - the things I write, the things I say out loud, my appearance... sometimes you need that little voice (which came from you today) to call you back to the moment, to a certain centre, and just write (and exist) from that.
ReplyDeletePerfectly said Cheryl! :)
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