Suppressing the Artist's Immune

 

"To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight.”

Poet E. E. Cummings

Listening to Tarama Levitt quote E. E. Cummings this morning in relation to Halloween was a fun surprise. After flying home yesterday from a trip to the East Coast and wearing a mask for seven hours, it was a little bit of heaven to take it off. Granted, most of my co-travelers weren't masking, but I'm assuming most don't have immune suppressant drugs in their systems.

In any case - I love the quote - and now have a question. If you don't use your own name and only your initials, is that a sort of mask?

Can success be a mask? 

I'm thinking of another writer of Cummings' generation who wrote about climbing in and out of a sarcophagus he himself had created.

Artists want to create "reputations" and "brands" and be "known" and all that.

Isn't masking a part of the job?

Don't we all need immune suppressants when we're trying to create something that makes people stop and listen?

Don't we all have to strip away something of ourselves to get people to recognize themselves?

But when you go to market, your coat has to grow very thick.

So aren't artists almost constantly at cross purposes?

If it is a fight, then too often, marketing is the winner. 

And I guess that's what this quote is telling me this morning.

And this evening. On Halloween.

Photo by lilartsy on Unsplash

Jack and Sally

Oops - I was out of town last week and forgot to post anything - sorry! Now back in time for Halloween and looking for candy. 

The RULE in our house is that whatever candy you get, it has to be something you HATE (like gummy bears or sweet tarts).

The rule was made because I WILL eat almost anything with chocolate and whatever is left over will be completely devoured. I will hate myself the next day--but that won't stop me.

So.

That's the plan for today--but Halloween has been on my mind all week. While visiting NY last week I was visiting family in the suburbs and was absolutely amazed at the Halloween decor. 

A truly scary collection of creatures took up almost every inch of space on one lawn, including a tarantula that tried to wrap its legs around yours. Another lawn offered a collection of IT-like clowns that was terrifying. Yet another had deflated creatures crawling all over the front yard.

The other decorations were mostly fall-type pumpkins and leaves, which I am almost liking better at this point. My favorites, though, are blow-ups like the Nightmare Before Christmas characters. 

I happen to be a fan of The Nightmare Before Christmas, with its endless parade of creatures and Jack and Sally's lopsided love affair. What I like best about them is that most shows for kids have either good guys or villains. Jack and Sally are both and more: damaged, obsessive, ambitious, determined. 

Sally will rid herself of her arm instead of staying with someone she hates. Jack will do nearly anything to be Santa Claus even though he's the opposite of joy and cheer. Both are some of my favorite movie characters--and I don't really care what that means.

The picture I posted here shows them on a lawn that's not too far from where I live. It made me think about inviting them to my place next Halloween.

On a completely different note, this is supposed to be the weekend you can see the Aurora Borealis in certain states (including mine) but we'd have to drive out of the city and I'm much too busy writing today.  I did see Northern-Light-type flashes one night here when my son was little, but haven't since then.

It's on my bucket list, though, to find them again. So if you see any, send me some pictures! And if you see Jack and Sally flying around somewhere, what can I say? Let me know?

Beats, the Dead and My Favorite Holiday

When people ask me about my favorite holiday, I'm not sure exactly, because it's one I never celebrated.  I can put a name to it, though. Day of the Dead, known in Mexico as Dia de los Muertos. I first discovered it on my honeymoon in New Orleans, when stores were filling up with sculptures, toys and costumes in celebration of this holiday.

Looking at everything around me, I felt connected to all of it, though not in a religious way. It was really more of an artistic connection,  and definitely a strong one. My husband and I looked for something to take home with us and landed on a skeleton couple dressed as a bride and groom.

Day of the Dead began thousands of years ago (according to my research) and is the result of Aztec rituals intertwined with celebrations in medieval Spain and the Roman Catholic Church, which celebrates All Saints Day on November 1 and All Souls Day on November 2.

Skeletons and skulls are seen throughout Mexico on Dia de los Muertos during this holiday season. November 1, the spirits of little children are invited into people's homes and adults the day after. People honor the memory of loved ones with altars that have favorite drinks and food of the deceased, pictures, clothing, toys, incense and more. Marigolds are scattered from cemeteries to people's homes to help the dead find their way home.

I don't know why, but it feels like there is much in the holiday that Beat Generation characters in my books would have loved. The word "Beat" as applied to the Beat Generation in the 1990s was partially connected to feeling "beaten" by society -- and what's more Beat than Dead?

I don't know if I would really want the spirits of my family to visit every year, but the idea of being visited is what captivates me. I don't celebrate the holiday, though, because it isn't something I grew up with and celebrating it would make me feel like I was intruding on others' rituals.

At the same time, I love that people are observing this day. I love my little skeleton bride and groom and would like to find one or two more (or maybe a costume). That's about as far as I'll go, but if I ever get the chance to visit a Mexican cemetery on Dias de los Muertos, I'm going to take it. That I can promise you.


Day of the Dead photo: Sheltie Boy