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In January 2015 when I did the Blogging U 101 class, one of the first things they asked us is how we would describe our blogs. I said mine was eclectic — deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources. Had I been asked why I chose that word, I probably would have said because then folks will never know what kind of mischief I’d be up to next.

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I wanted to stretch the imagination, show what true humanness looks like, and create a climate where readers could open up without feeling weird or nervous. I don’t know if I’ve done all that, but I’ve tried. And I’ve gone out of my way to sprinkle around a lot of fairy dust — to encourage folks in their own writings on their blogs. I think that’s an integral part of belonging to a community like Word Press.

Now this morning I read something written by Graziano Marcheschi in Wheat & Weeds and the Wolf of Guibbio that explained in a very different way what I was trying to do. I want to share it with you…
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You hear an old song and the face of a lost loved one suddenly appears, and in the space of the song the loved one grabs your loneliness by the collar and sends it out the door.

You stand before a painting and the peaceful landscape calls you in — or a scene of violent pain holds you in thrall — and for a minute that’s longer than eternity you enter the serenity, or you rage and grieve along with the picture’s tortured Souls.

You read a piece of poetry and for the span of a minute — or an hour — you find a space to sit and listen to the sound of naked joy, or to stare into the face of unfathomable grief.

More than anything else, that’s what good art does: not answer questions or set a agendas, but create space — space to laugh, to mourn, and to wonder who and how and why we are. 

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That’s IT! That’s exactly what I was trying to do. To create a space where you could think about and experience ALL that stuff. That’s why I post weird stuff on here from time to time. Weird interests me and makes me curious. So does taking stock of the “art form” that is human beings and pondering on it — its strengths, weaknesses, what it does right, what it does wrong. I need space to do those things. And sometimes I have to give myself permission.

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This was a nice time to stumble on this passage given that my second anniversary just passed. And I truly hope anyone reading this blog has found space to explore the art of weird they find on here at times — or at least explore themselves…

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Picture Credits:
Eclectic — Twitter
Space — Flickr