Soren Kierkegaard

"Life must be lived forwards, but can only be understood backwards."

— Soren Kierkegaard

Danish Writer, Philosopher

1813 - 1855

Do you understand who you are and from where you have come?  Only in looking back at our lives can we begin to have inkling of who we are as we begin to connect the dots in our lives — as we begin to tell the stories of what has happened to us.  Some of the dots in my life begin with my loud voice.  As a child, I was asked to participate in church programs because I had a booming voice.  When I was a sophomore in high school I decided to become a preacher.  I have spent the last 25 years of my life as a motivational speaker.  Three dots that when I look back at my life begin to tell the story of who I was and who I became.  And there are other dots that connect me to my father and the father that I became.  And dots that point to my perception of myself as an outsider, an underdog.  What are the dots in your life that you are beginning to connect and therefore to understand?  What are the stories you are telling yourself but nobody else?  What are the stories that you are sharing with the world?

Mark Rothko

"Pictures must be miraculous: the instant one is completed the intimacy between the creation and the creator is ended.  He is an outsider.  The picture must be for him, as for anyone experiencing it later, a revelation, an unexpected and unprecedented resolution of an eternally familiar need."

— Mark Rothko

Russian Artist

1903 - 1970

Often when I reread one of my poems, I am surprised by what I wrote.  And sometimes I can't believe that I wrote it.  Somebody else must have written it.  As Rothko says, I am an outsider to my own work.  Have you ever felt that way?  Is there distance between you and your creation?  Does your work surprise you?

Maria Luz Q. King

Old Man

"My art is my conversation with the world."

— Maria Luz Q. King

American Artist, Writer

1952 - 

Junior

Art at its core is about communication, about talking — carrying on a conversation with people today and tomorrow.  It is like a time machine that carries us from the world in which we live into some distant future where we inspire the lives of others.  What are you talking about in your art?  What is the conversation that you are having?  What messages are you sending into the future?

Is the conversation that you are having clear and concise?  Do people understand what your message is  Do you know what your message is?

William Plomer

"Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected."

— William Plomer

South African Writer

1903 - 1973

Great writers and artists make mental leaps that often leave others baffled.  They make connections between what seem like very different things.  For me, this mental leaping often happens at a subconscious level and only occasionally spills over into the conscious world.  I make leaps while writing poetry that I know don't come from my conscious mind.  One way of increasing this unconscious leaping is to be constantly feeding information into your mind and and letting your subconscious connect the dots.  Even if you don't understand the connection in your rational mind, trust your subconscious because it understands the relationship better than the analytical mind.