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- Bukowski On What Art Is
Every day you live a little, and every day you die a little.
Art happens in the balance of this science.
Even on Tuesdays - when, almost nothing feels artful, if I’m being honest.
It’s what you do with the excess in either direction, aka the net-living versus the net-dying - as only Bukowski could put it,
“Art is a day by day game of living and dying and if you live a little more than you die you are going to continue to create some pretty fair stuff, but if you die a little more than you live, you know the answer.”
For a guy with “Don’t Try” on his tombstone (for a great reason), you have to appreciate the poetry inside of this brilliant observation.
It’s easy to say “live a little more than you die” but - every day comes with its own challenges.
We’ve all got lots to do at work. More to do at home. Nobody has any respite, or breaks, or relief.
That’s a fancy way of saying life is exhausting.
But if you’re exhausted, you’re probably dying more than you’re living, and you can do something about it.
Doesn’t have to be big, just has to be - take some part of that living and capture the excess.
Every one of these posts is me trying to do just that.
Fair is a good target to aim for.
So is Tuesday.