Stories of artists’ lives often paint them as having been artists from infancy. Their parents say they were never without a pencil to scribble with as soon as they could hold one, whether they grew up to be fine artists, illustrators, designers, or writers. It is one of the most enviable qualities in a human, surely, that they knew what they wanted to do with their lives, what they wanted to ‘be’, from a young age. They had the maximum number of years possible in which to pursue and perfect their desires.
You are a wonderful writer, Rachel. This has touched a nerve with me because, apart from a particularly productive stint during a brief period of furlough in lockdown, all my creative inclinations have been missing in action since I came back to the UK. I don’t know what’s caused it. It may be partly down to a ‘homesickness’ for Japan. Or perhaps it’s my semi-permanent state of anger at the political and social demise of this country. Whatever it is, your words give me pause. Life is precious and short.
Thank you. I can relate to a lot of this as an author who totally forgot she loved writing stories for the best part of 30 years.
Thank you for writing this, Rachel. That phrase, and variations of it, is set to follow me to the end... "don't die with your music still inside you."
You are a wonderful writer, Rachel. This has touched a nerve with me because, apart from a particularly productive stint during a brief period of furlough in lockdown, all my creative inclinations have been missing in action since I came back to the UK. I don’t know what’s caused it. It may be partly down to a ‘homesickness’ for Japan. Or perhaps it’s my semi-permanent state of anger at the political and social demise of this country. Whatever it is, your words give me pause. Life is precious and short.