I am a firm believer that as writers, we tell ourselves
things we didn’t know we already knew. It’s an amazing gift we give ourselves
and each other--to discover or remind ourselves of truths our subconscious
minds had temporarily locked away.
Great pieces of literature are easy to distinguish in this
way. We may find as readers that stories resonate with us in that non-verbal
part of the brain, causing powerful emotions to stir when suddenly these truths
are given words. Articulation. I first felt this when I read the poetry of
Emily Dickinson. Every time I go back and read her work again, I’m reminded of
the power words have not just over our conceptions of reality, but on a deeper,
spiritual level that speaks to the essence of our humanity. I would go as far
as to say that literature has the power to tap into a collective subconscious
where all our knowledge of the world that has never been given light becomes
illuminated.
Perhaps that seems like a bold thing to say. Not everyone
speaks the same language and not everyone is literate. But everyone is human
and capable at some point in his or her life to have these moments of
reflection or introspection that are often inspired by art.
I don’t think that most people outside the literary world
would automatically think of writing as an art. But of course it is. Paper is our
canvas; words are our paint. Creative impulses manifest in different forms
among artists, but carry this same truth-saying power. For some it may come in
the form of a narrative, for others a drawing or a sculpture, for others,
still, a symphony.
But what exactly do I mean by truth? It is this five-letter
word that carries so much meaning, but evades precise verbalization. Quite a
conundrum. To add to the paradoxical nature of truth is the notion that it can
be found in fiction. Truth is not the same as fact. Truth, to me, is as
Dickinson writes, that “certain Slant of light,/ Winter Afternoons –/ That oppresses, like the Heft/ Of Cathedral
Tunes--“ And perhaps to me and Dickinson and her other fans, this has sort of
become a fact in that we regard it to be as true as any arbitrary date in a
history textbook. Where truth differs from fact, though, is its ability to
transcend language, culture, and time. Facts, although in ways more tangible,
are in many other ways even more elusive than truth when we consider Einstein’s
theory of relativity. If we strip away time and space, many facts become
irrelevant, while many truths remain the same.
Part of being a writer, or any artist, is being able to
recognize the power of the form to convey truth. Just as people have different
tastes in visual art, the same is true of literature. Fiction or non, poem or
novel, classical or contemporary bears no limits to truth-telling potential.
When I think of how different aesthetic value may be from person to person,
writer to writer, I am reminded that the truths we tell are best picked up by
those that share our same tastes. To be a writer, then, is less about being
some type of oracle or soothsayer, but rather a fellow human being. Writing is
not the solitary act it is made out to be. In fact, or better yet, in truth,
writing has been the most rewarding communal activity of my life.
It can be argued relentlessly whether beauty is truly subjective or not. To bring science into the mix seems to
only muddy the waters for me. I prefer to think of it in this way, as John
Keats told us years ago:
'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,’—that is all
Ye know on earth,
and all ye need to know.
About this Guest Poster:
Jaclyn Lyons is a writer,
blogger, editor, perpetual and professional student. She has an BA and an
MA in English Literature and another MA in Literature and Environmental
Philosophy. She's currently enrolled in a Library Science (MS LIS)
program, but she will still always identify herself first and foremost as a
writer before any of the ways she earns a living because she believes writing is
more about who you are as opposed to what you do. She hopes to get a short story published this year and has a novel running wild in her brain that is begging to find its way to paper.
You can reach Jaclyn in the following ways:
Her blog: www.jaclynwrites.com
Twitter: @jaclynwrites
Email: info@jaclynwrites.com
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