Looking through the fence at another path.
PRAGUE, Czech Republic- I believe it’s probably normal for all artists from time to time to wish they pursued a different medium — to longingly look back in time to that fork in the road where they chose THEIR art and traveled down it all the way. This is kind of a nostalgic, quasi-regretful thought, as you know that you can’t go back and take another path. To jump between styles is possible, to jump between mediums, no way. There is just not enough time in life for that.
But that’s okay. One of the joys choosing a path is that it’s at the expense of all other paths. It’s YOUR path, it’s what defines you. To jump back and forth between paths is to not get anywhere — you have your teens and early twenties for jumping, by 38 your path is set.
I chose writing. That eventually blended with video (I know what I’m talking about when I blab about the perils of jumping mediums). But every once in a while I hear a song and it’s like, that said IT. That said IT in such a perfectly magical way that there is really nothing left to say. I then feel that silence that comes when IT has been said.
Then I ask myself, can I say IT like that with my prose and journalism and stories?
I think about it. I envision it. But it’s never IT.
The medium is just different. All mediums operate in their own ways. They are their own beasts.
The goal of all art is to make people feel. It’s not to make them think. It’s not to make them believe. It’s to make them feel.
Nothing can make you feel like a song. It’s the meeting of musical sound and language. One rivets the heart and the other the head. It happens at the same time and you feel the image that’s being projected. It blends with the time that you are experiencing and becomes a part of your present reality.
I can’t do that and it makes me jealous. All I have is words. Sometimes words are not enough.
This was one of the reasons why I was drawn to video a couple of years ago. Video is the combination of language and sound and visuals. I thought of it as a complete art form. But it still can’t stand next to a good song.
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About the Author: VBJ
I am the founder and editor of Vagabond Journey. I’ve been traveling the world since 1999, through 93 countries. I am the author of the book, Ghost Cities of China and have written for The Guardian, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Diplomat, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. VBJ has written 3728 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.
VBJ is currently in: Rome, Italy
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June 23, 2019, 2:17 am
I read a piece not too long ago that talked of learning skills (I don’t recall where I read it). The thought was that any skill could be learned, even music. All you have to do is practice.
Talent is something that makes learning a skill easier.
We live long enough to have the time to try different things, maybe the next time you need a change you’ll take up music?All that said talent would sure help my wood carving… I know it’s easier to practice if you have a little talent for it!