If you could create a world, how would you make it? What would you fill it with?
What are your dreams?
Humanity has, since learning the patterns of letters that drive our society, come to know the world around us more intimately than ever. The bounds of knowledge extend far beyond any single person’s reach and yet, there are limits—still. The human mind is not able to comprehend nearly as much as the world has to offer.
Thank God for curiosity.
Many of us ultimately define our time on this earth by what we do, and to that end. We focus upon our impact on those around us. Whether or not we are lucky enough to earn a living via a hobby or specific area of interest, most often our legacy lies within the furrows of our brow, the folds of our palms and the curvature of our spine. What first piques our interest soon becomes a lifetime achievement.
What makes one person act upon a single entity, when so many others have passed by it without a care?
Resonance is the true value of inspiration. I could read a thousand books and never have found the desire to write my own, but with the crackling of a single book’s spine as I lay bare the words printed upon the coarse pages, a germ of an idea slinks its way up my fingertips, through the muscles of my arm, and nestle in the coiled folds of my mind, to someday re-emerge.
Have you ever wondered what the combined efforts of every brain would achieve?
Thinking about thoughts is a very complicated process, and one foolishly grounded in reality. The abstract has no authority where tangibility stands firm, but enough with these lofty comparisons! We seek our own path through the world, and yet, is it our fault when that path veers off into the unknown—and oftentimes unaccepted?
Writers past and present have magnified the tiniest slices of life, imagining worlds within our own, while those more analytically-minded have tirelessly trudged towards “the truth of things.” You might consider those more creative to be the first explorers, those intrepid souls who venture out into spaces unknown and illuminate aspects of the world we had not yet known of or considered. Those that follow engage with the minutest of aspects in order to elucidate just why the world is how it is. And in a perfect world, the entirety of humanity benefits.
Those of us that fashion words into greater creations understand that a single sentence is much more than a simple communication. Romance movies never stop attempting to create that “perfect speech” that lovers are dying to hear. The greatest movies are not only remembered because of the actors featured, but the one-liners that evoke a plethora of emotions. Every TV show relies on the writers to impress audiences; those that fail hardly see more than a few seconds of fame. Commercials—those hated minutes of sales-y speech between the featured presentation—choose their words as if they cost more than a family sedan, each.
Written materials are under the same constraints, without any access to the visual (with exceptions, of course). Books must entice their audiences with an enticing cover. Blogs do not survive for a web minute without the help of thousand-word-worth pictures. Ever had a garage sale? Fluorescent colors are your friend!
In the age when everyone is a “writer,” a true writer’s job gets harder with each e-book or novel published. I imagine that when American Idol first aired, not very many people understood that you could make a successful career by singing to the world. Years later, every street corner boasts the next superstar.
Can talent truly exist in such an abundance?
We all hope that those subjects we slave over will help others, either those amongst us now or awaiting us in the future. It is not only the time we spend and the labors we put into our interests, but the wealth we are able to share with others that truly comprise the value of our talents. While a critical eye remains unparalleled in achieving advancement, a positive outlook can be tempering.
I wanted to write this post about many things that inspired me within our newest edition. Varying topics struck me with their potential. But in the end, I knew that to focus upon one single speck would do the entire piece an injustice. Every contributor deserves the space they earned.
As writers, it is our job to take the public by the hand—or heart, or mind, what have you—and show them something new. Positively impacting the life of one single person makes it all worth-while. In this article, I’d like to give thanks to the published writers, for the voices they give to issues unknown or forgotten and the new perspectives they offer. I cannot emphasize enough how crucial writers are to society. Without writers, the world has no imagination. The infamous stories and legends we treasure and pass on to our children would not exist.
Thank you, writers, for the worlds you’ve given us and the inspiration you continue to provide.
Rebecca Henderson holds a Master’s in German and a Bachelor’s in Creative Writing. Best expressing herself through the written word, she enjoys the smell of burning rubber and can recite the ABC’s of the automotive world upon command. Rebecca hopes to shift your world perspective through her words, because looking out the same window every day hardly makes for an interesting life.
Cover photo by Jean-Frederic Fortier on Unsplash
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