We Are Not the Poem.
‘The problem is we think we exist. We think our words are permanent and solid and stamp us forever. That’s not true. We write in the moment. Sometimes when I read poems at a reading to strangers, I realize they think those poems are me. They are not me, even if I speak in the “I” person. They were my thoughts and my hand and the space and the emotions at that time of writing. Watch yourself. Every minute we change. It is a great opportunity. At any point, we can step out of our frozen selves and our ideas and begin fresh. That is how writing is. Instead of freezing us, it frees us.’
‘We constantly need new insights, visions. We don’t exist in any solid form. There is no permanent truth you can corner in a poem that will satisfy you forever. Don’t identify too strongly with your work. Stay fluid behind those black-and-white words. They are not you. They were a great moment you were going through you. A moment you were awake enough to write down and capture.’
Natalie Goldberg*
The same goes for making. As makers, our creations are not our final outcomes, just what we want to say in the moment; what we want to say, changing as we move through our lives. Change is the only constant. And so, we try to capture moments. Moments in thought, moments in time, moments in our world; in our internal and external realities, moments in life.
* Goldberg, Natalie. (2016). We Are Not The Poem in Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within (P34-35), Boulder, Colorado: Shambala Publications, Inc.