“The state of birth, suffering, love, and death are extreme states-extreme, universal, and inescapable. We all know this, but would rather not know it.”-James Baldwin-The Creative Process from Creative America, Ridge Press, 1962.
My author love of the day goes out to James Baldwin. I’ve been on a bit of a Baldwin kick of late. His writing is accessible and heady all at once. I enjoy the truths he exposes and lays bare for all of us to examine. As he states in his essay The Creative Process, “The precise role of the artist, then, is to illuminate the darkness, blaze roads through the vast forest, so that we will not, in all our doing, lose sight of its purpose, which is, after all, to make the world a more human dwelling place.”
Give Baldwin a chance if you haven’t before, you won’t be sorry. Whether its his semi-autobiographical novel “Go Tell It on the Mountain” or his short story “Sonny’s Blues” let this 20th Century intellectual take up some of that headspace that you’re using to cruise the internets. I do believe that he adhered to his ideal of making the world a more human dwelling place by sharing his mind with us and challenging us to honestly consider social issues that plague our society and keep us all from moving forward together.
Welcome to my effort. Yes, as a great procrastinator, it requires great effort to stay focused on something productive that matters to me. I’ll find any old excuse to traipse from project to project, and I rarely end up at the place I started. I find this maddening, and exhaustive. So it is with high hopes, and a greater grasp of self-awareness, that I embark upon staying the course so to speak.
I enjoy writing. Be it blogs, fiction, poetry, etc. I love the craft and the act of creation, the art in and of itself, for it’s own sake and end. I am happy to be able to do it.
Some stats:
Born: March 1974
Education:
St.Francis de Sales, Charlestown MA
Don Bosco Technical High School, Boston MA
University of Massachusetts at Lowell, Lowell MA
Bunker Hill Community College, Charlestown MA
DePaul University, Chicago, IL
North Virginia Community College, Arlington VA
Harvard Extension School, Cambridge MA
Place of residence: Somewhere in the land of metro Boston. It’s vaguely familiar and becoming home more and more by the day, but when you come from “The Town” all else fails by comparison.
Favorite Color: I’m partial to all forms of blue.
Favorite Author: c’mon! don’t expect me to answer that, there are too many.
I enjoy memories of playing 80’s Atari better than playing any advanced gaming system that exists today.
Some day:
Hope to be recognized for my paper clip collection. As well as my 27 rejected applications to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailiey Clown college.
View all posts by Christopher Hickey
