Yesterday I was listening to Neil Gaiman’s
Commencement address at the University of the Arts (yeah, I know, I’m about 3
weeks late to the party), and in a completely unexpected may, it made me like
him even more. (And, in case I haven’t been clear about this before: I
absolutely adore Neil Gaiman. I’d kidnap him and lock him into a room with me
just to talk if I thought I could get away with it. For hours. Or days. Who
knows? I have issues.)*
Lately I’ve been in a reflective mood and I’ve been
able to zero in on the reason why I enjoy his writing so much: it always brings
a smile to my face. I’m not sure if it’s the subject matter, or the writing
style, or repressed childhood memories or whatever, what I do know is, reading
Gaiman is always a pleasure.
So, hearing him in a somewhat somber and reflective
mode was quite a departure from the Gaiman I’m used to reading. But his words struck
a chord anyway. Because, what he said, the main thing he really had to say is
…life is going to suck. You can’t help that. You can try to prevent it, but
things happen anyway. And when those things happen, all you can do is pick
yourself up. And then make good art.
And, isn’t that the greatest advice ever for artists?
Because, it’s true. Every time. You can’t help what’s going to happen. You can
try to control your life, but sometimes you won’t be able to. And, some of
those times, when things go bad, really, really bad, you’ll find yourself
making good art. Better art than you could have made if you’d been happy and whole
and …well, normal.
I guess the point is, normalcy is over-rated, and
there is a story there. There’s a story in everything that happens to you. You
just have to find it. And, for that, you have to live. Screw up. Do things
right. Figure out the difference. Don’t.
Or, as Gaiman said: “Go and make interesting mistakes,
make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave
the world more interesting for your being here. Make. Good. Art.”
*Joke. JOKE. Joke.
Come on, people. JOKE.
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