{"id":529,"date":"2013-03-01T13:10:45","date_gmt":"2013-03-01T18:10:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hometeamproductions.tv\/stephaniesilberwordsworks\/?p=529"},"modified":"2013-04-07T11:01:18","modified_gmt":"2013-04-07T15:01:18","slug":"from-the-petty-to-the-sublime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hometeamproductions.tv\/wordsworks\/from-the-petty-to-the-sublime\/","title":{"rendered":"FROM THE PETTY TO THE SUBLIME"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve been thinking about the nature of competitiveness.\u00a0 Specifically, as it concerns me and my work, among other artists and writers.\u00a0 This is a naked matter, one perhaps best hashed out in privacy.\u00a0 But the feelings that arise are powerful, and worth noting in some way or another.<\/p>\n

Sometimes when you hear (or read, or watch) the work of a gifted artist, tears of joy fill your eyes.\u00a0 The heart soars.\u00a0 It’s pure beauty.<\/p>\n

\"Threatening\"<\/a>Other times are not so comfortable and comforting.\u00a0 You’re threatened.\u00a0 You’re petty.\u00a0 You criticize inwardly, sometimes contemptuously.\u00a0 These days I think the word is snarky.\u00a0 You don’t like yourself for that.\u00a0 You squirm and look away, ashamed.<\/p>\n

The other night at the Artists without Walls salon<\/a>, I was second last to read, from a newer short story, THE LEMON TREE.\u00a0 I was to be followed by a writer who leaves me breathless and enthralled every time I hear him read; he’s described as “a blend of Tarantino and Joyce.”\u00a0 We had a brief exchange prior to going up, joking about the hazards of reading back-to-back:\u00a0 the gist was “Jeez, you better not upstage me!”<\/p>\n

\"print-auroras-over-the-ocean\"<\/a>I read.\u00a0 And then he read, his torrent of words as usual sweeping the listener away, to someplace so Other that it is both terrifying and sublime.<\/p>\n

I was humbled.\u00a0 Uncomfortably so.\u00a0 There was no inner Snark Voice, but the trance of unworthiness came a-knocking.\u00a0 It took about 24 hours for the voice to be driven forth from me, straight back to hell from whence it comes.<\/p>\n

And the realization came: There is a GOOD sort of competitiveness.\u00a0 In my knowledge of \"pure<\/a>the other writer’s gifts, I overcame my own natural shyness for a shining eight minutes.\u00a0 I did my own work justice.\u00a0 I read so strongly that I no longer dwelt inside myself, but had sent myself<\/em> to someplace Other.\u00a0 I was grateful for the power that was born out of respect — and even awe — for another’s work.\u00a0 It trumped fear.\u00a0 And now I have a useful new tool.\u00a0 Competition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been thinking about the nature of competitiveness.\u00a0 Specifically, as it concerns me and my work, among other artists and writers.\u00a0 This is a naked matter, one perhaps best hashed out in privacy.\u00a0 But the feelings that arise are powerful, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n