[오늘의 한문장] 그해 봄의 불확실성

<불확실한 봄이었다.>
오래전에 읽은 책이라 이 문장 말고는 내용이 거의 기억나지 않았다. 그러니까 나는 책에 등장하는 인물들이나 그들에게 일어난 일들에 대해 말할 수가 없었을 것이다. 그 책이 1880년에 시작되었다는 것도(나중에 찾아보기 전까지는) 말할 수 없었을 것이다. 뭐, 그게 중요하다는 얘긴 아니다. 내가 읽은 소설들에서 무슨 일들이 일어났는지 기억하는 게 중요하다고 믿었던건 어릴 적뿐이었다. 이제 나는 중요한 것이 책에 서술된 허구의 사건들보다는 독서 중의 체험, 책 속 이야기가 일으키는 감정 상태, 머리에 떠오르는 질문들이라는 진실을 안다. - P9

Most dangerously of all, such...

Most dangerously of all, such thinking assumes that if you cannot win, then you must not continue to play. - P70

At the very least, she could have tricked everyone into forgetting that she’d once been Harper Lee. She could have tricked herself into forgetting that she’d once been Harper Lee, which might have been artistically liberating. - P71

Just because creativity is mystical doesn’t mean it shouldn’t also be demystified—especially if it means liberating artists from the confines of their own grandiosity, panic, and ego. - P72

It was a tale of enchantment, written under enchantment, and even a stranger could feel the fairy dust in it. - P73

When that assistance does arrive—that sense of the moving sidewalk beneath my feet, the moving sidewalk beneath my words—I am delighted, and I go along for the ride. In such instances, I write like I am not quite myself. I lose track of time and space and self. - P74

All I know for certain is that this is how I want to spend my life—collaborating to the best of my ability with forces of inspiration that I can neither see, nor prove, nor command, nor understand. - P78

They just made stuff. So that’s what I decided to do: I decided to just go make stuff. - P85

This is the contract that say...

This is the contract that says, I shall destroy myself and everyone around me in an effort to bring forth my inspiration, and my martyrdom shall be the badge of my creative legitimacy. - P38

so if you prefer a short life of tragic glamour to a long life of rich satisfaction (and many do), knock yourself out. - P39

Adifferent way is to cooperate fully, humbly, and joyfully with inspiration. - P40

You can measure your worth by your dedication to your path, not by your successes or failures. - P41

And at the end of your days, you can thank creativity for having blessed you with a charmed, interesting, passionate existence. - P41

(As Joan Didion said, "I don’t know what I think until I write about it.") - P45

It was like poking a stick at a cast-off snakeskin: The more I messed with it, the faster it fell apart and turned to dust. - P47

Because this is the other side of the contract with creativity: If inspiration is allowed to unexpectedly enter you, it is also allowed to unexpectedly exit you. - P47

Trust in the miraculous truth that new and marvelous ideas are looking for human collaborators every single day. - P48

(What was there for Harper Lee to be afraid of, after all? Possibly just this: That she could not outdo Harper Lee.) - P68

I believe the creative proces...

I believe the creative process is both magical and magic. - P34

Ideas are driven by a single impulse: to be made manifest. - P34

The idea, sensing your openness, will start to do its work on you. It will send the universal physical and emotional signals of inspiration (the chills up the arms, the hair standing up on the back of the neck, the nervous stomach, the buzzy thoughts, that feeling of falling into love or obsession). - P36

The simplest answer, of course, is just to say no. - P37

Creativity is a path for the ...

Creativity is a path for the brave, yes, but it is not a path for the fearless, and it’s important to recognize the distinction. - P22

Bravery means doing something scary. Fearlessness means not even understanding what the word scary means. - P22

But you do not need your fear in the realm of creative expression. - P23

Creativity and I are the only ones who will be making any decisions along the way. - P25

Then we head off together—me and creativity and fear—side by side by side forever, advancing once more into the terrifying but marvelous terrain of unknown outcome. - P25

And you have treasures hidden within you—extraordinary treasures—and so do I, and so does everyone around us. - P26

Now that we’re done talking about fear, we can finally talk about magic. - P31