Life Is Not A Fiction
?? ~ by OneMoreOption
Art is often a fiction.? Art often is pleasantly fictional.
When a fictional story more accurately approximates the moral complexities and ambiguities of real life, the fictional story often loses its broader appeal.? Life is often not poetic.? The ?endings? in real life often don?t wrap around and conclude at?a point of desired expectation.
I was watching the (free Netflix streamable) 2010?film ?London Boulevard? starring Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley.? What?? You?ve never heard of the?film ?London Boulevard? starring?the well known celebrities?Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley?? Even though it came out in 2010?? I submit the movie as evidence that more?realistic fictional tales often don?t garner broad appeal.? As a fictional story, a ?problem? with London Boulevard (and there were many problems with the structure and rhythm of the screenplay) was the characters were stereotypically drawn, but the consequences of their actions were too realistic.? The storytellers tried to have it both ways.? The end result was a dissatisfying gangster tale?where the??noble gangster? is ultimately undone because he lacks ruthlessness ? a?quality he tries consistently to resist and?oppose.? As a morality tale, the story works.? But the story is not a satisfying fiction for most filmgoers, because the ?good guy? loses ? a realistic result.
Today, I read?a short story in Issue #40 of the McSweeney?s Quarterly titled ?The Sisters?, written by Kevin Moffett.? It was a great piece of creative writing.? So many sentences and phrases were written with the intent and care to try to say things differently than one would expect.? The story is like a dream, a modern fairy tale about twin sisters whose lives may or may not regularly be taken over by external forces.? Alternatively, the external forces may simply be a product of their imagination.? Some fiction is written to reveal and speak to universal, truthful, and real concepts.? Other fiction is more intent on exploring dreams, creativity, and imaginary adventures.? I honestly don?t know where ?The Sisters? lies?on that scale ? and I mean that as a compliment.? It is a professional piece of writing on the topics of sexuality and love in the arts.
One of the potential problems with reading lots of fiction is that as a result the reader becomes very educated about fictions.? Fictional stories often don?t remotely simulate real life, real limitations, and real complexities.? I sometimes think some people who love fictional stories also love to wrap their minds up in fictions.? But one story is not necessarily as true as the next, and if you create your precepts and understandings about human relations largely from fictional narratives (including religious ones), you may end up jumping on horses you will have no ability to ride.? Some people, after being bucked off a few real horses, prefer to submerge their thoughts?and mind back into fictions, rather than attempting to do the incredibly difficult work of preparing and learning how to ride real horses.? For them, the concept of ?getting back on the horse? practically no longer becomes an option.? Instead, it?s easier to venture once more into the fictions.
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Can One Person Make A Difference?
?? ~ by OneMoreOption
I?ve seen individuals who have made a great deal of positive difference in my life.? One person can make a difference.
And to anyone who honestly thinks one person cannot make a difference, I think it is a noble pursuit to attempt to live life, trying to prove one person can make a difference.
?Message In A Bottle? by The Police came on the radio this week, and this concept washed over me: What would my life be in the absence of only that one song?? Can I imagine my life and its shape without that song?? It?s just one song, written by one person.
It?s okay to engage yourself in a lifetime?s argument, trying to prove you, as only one person, can make positive differences in others? lives.? No matter how much others disagree with you, you can still spend the rest of your life trying to prove them wrong.
As a teen, in choirs, I was known for smiling, swaying, and being more animated with the lyrics and music than most of my choral mates.? Sticking out is not necessarily ideal in a choir ? it?s not the point.
In college, I?d work harder than average to try to make our variety shows funny and entertaining.
Now, some people might look at my actions and think:? That person loves attention.? They must be a narcissist.
I like attention fine.? I like to present myself well.? But it?s so much more than that.
My larger intent is to be a part of a world where people are animated, artistic, energetic, and vibrant.? And I can?t make other people be those things.? I can only make myself into an instrument toward those ends.? And so if no one else is dancing to the beat, I think someone should ? so sometimes that?s me.
It?s not about ?look at me.?? It?s about being an example of?what humans can be.
I said to my son, as we were practicing for his tennis competition:? ?It?s not about winning or losing.? The reasons you compete include:? 1) to show respect for your opponents and the game, 2) to do your best, 3) to get exercise, and 4) to put on a show, to be entertaining to yourself, your opponents and anyone watching.? Why not?? Why not try so hard that you become evidence of the human spirit?s desire to please and to be excellent?
As I was driving home from the airport today, I got a little emotional because I?m so grateful to this forum and to the readers and visitors.? It?s not primarily?about me.? If I wanted more attention, I?d write under my own name.? But that?s not my higher priority.? I love this forum because it allows me to put on a show ? to be an example of just one more person trying to make this life something more than the sum of the parts ? a spark, a catalyst, a spectacle.? I want the world to have ?Sexuality and Love in the Arts? and one more lightning rod point from which those parts of life can connect, interact, re-energize, and reflect back out again and again.
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For regular readers and writers:? Thank you for the new (and longtime) Facebook and email subscribers.? I?m heading to London, Venice, Florence, Rome, and Paris to see some artworks by people who chose to leave some enduring, emotional, corporeal,?and conceptual remarks for the rest of history to consider.
One reason to put your best foot forward and to put on shows while you can is:? you never know when your show will end.? As I?ve said before, part the reason I write directly is because when I write, I write knowing each post may be ?the last thing I wrote.?
Don?t just walk through life.? When you feel the urge, put on a show . . . like Mick Jagger.? You cannot understand Mick Jagger by looking at his static physical features.? You can only better understand him by observing his motions and expressions.
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