Related to my last post, I think that as I get older, I am less interested in definite answers, and more interested in the questions themselves. Asking and exploring.
From “What Do We Want from Writing?” by Tim Parks:
It’s time to rethink everything. Everything. What it means to write and what it means to write for a public — and which public. What do I want from this writing? Money? A career? Recognition? A place in the community? A change in the government? World peace? Is it an artifice, is it therapy? Is it therapy because it is an artifice, or in spite of that? Does it have to do with constructing an identity, a position in society? Or simply with entertaining myself, with entertaining others? Will I still write if they don’t pay me?
And what does it mean to read? Do I want to read the things other people are reading, so I can talk to them? Which other people? Why do I want to talk to them? So that I can be of my time? Or so that I can know other times, other places? Do I read things to confirm my vision of the world, or to challenge it?
(Note: The rest of the piece is kind of pessimistic, not very much in line with my mindset. But I liked this part.)
2 responses to “Question everything”
I feel like my answers to these questions change on a daily basis. I read and write because I want to. Why I want to is an ever-shifting, evolving thing. I think I would go mad trying to pin down a constant reason. So I think you’re totally right: the older I get, the less I care about the answers. They’re going to be different tomorrow anyway.
Hah, yes! So, so true.