As I was floating in the pool this morning, I wondered if you are a writer because you write or because you are read? If you wrote every day (non-journal) and no one ever read it, would you consider yourself a writer? The same question goes for photography (and every creative process, I think)... if you could never show your photos to anyone, would you still make them?
Is the 'creation' complete when the artist puts down the pen/camera/brush? Or is it only finished when it has been published/printed/displayed?
These questions are not for the purpose of labeling oneself, as in "I am a *fill-in-the-blank*" I'm strictly referring to the process of creating some thing. Some thing that did not exist before you had the idea and made some thing that expressed that idea.
3 comments:
IMHO, yes, you are an artist if no one sees your work. Being an optimist I feel that somehow the work will be seen. Love this question and glad you shared it. Now I will have to dwell on this and maybe journal about it. As for journaling, I find I must go back over them and read them for many reasons. They are one way for me to learn about myself.
Monte, I think journaling is very important and healthy! When I specified non-journal writing, I was thinking of writing with the intention of publishing versus the privacy of a daily journal. Does that make any sense? lol
You're a writer EVEN IF you're not read. You still wrote. You're a painter even if you sell nothing. You still painted.
But are you a singer if you never leave the shower? :D
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