Dedicated to the memory of Jerry Garcia...
On August 9, 2001, the world lost one of the most talented musicians and insightful individuals to walk this earth - Jerry Garcia, a phenomenal solo artist and leader of The Grateful Dead.The influence of his lyrical genius lives on - this feature is one small testament to that fact. As I listened to the lyrics of the Dead tune "Eyes of The World," I was inspired to write this feature. You can find all the words of this song on this site http://arts.ucsc.edu/GDead/AGDL/eyes.html The particular line that made me think of writers is - "Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world." I believe this phrase applies to how influential writers can be on the public, in history and just in general. We usually write about what we see (through our eyes). Our experiences serve as a catalyst for creating stories, poetry, books, scripts, newspaper and magazine articles and columns and more. Writers can write from almost any location (the world). From big cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago etc... to isolated places like the mountains of Montana, backwoods of Maine or deserts of Arizona - writers can live anywhere they want. Depending upon what type of writing you do and where your work is published, it may reach a huge percentage of the people, an international audience or a targeted group of society, a tiny segment of one small towns population. Think about the magnitude of the media (both print and broadcast). Editors and producers decide what is "newsworthy" and/or worth publishing or airing. But writers create the content for television, radio, newspapers, magazines, books etc... Although some types of writing (like journalism) are supposed to be objective a reporter still reports what SHE SEES when shes covering an event, what she views when shes on the scene of a crime or disaster, what she gathers from interviewing people and what she interprets after investigating stories. YOUR EYES become the EYES OF THE WORLD almost every time you pick up your pen or type at your computer. Creative writers certainly rely on what they experience in life or what they feel strongly about as inspiration for short stories, poetry, some books, plays, and scripts. These processes provide good writers with the power to become a significant influence in the lives of so many different people from so many diverse places. They say money = power - however - I would argue that the power of words is equally consequential. When you think about in these terms - its a little overwhelming - being a writer is a major responsibility not to be taken lightly... Don't you agree that we can be the Eyes of The World? |
