Artists - by Ursula K. Le Guin

One of my favourites; just have to put it here.
Artists
Written on a white plaster wall in the workroom of the Oak Society in Telina-na

What do they do,
the singers, tale-writers, dancers, painters, shapers, makers?
They go there with empty hands,
into the gap between.
They come back with things in their hands.
They go silent and come back with words, with tunes.
They into confusion and come back with patterns.
They go limping and weeping, ugly and frightened,
and come back with the wings of the red-wing hawk,
the eyes of the mountain lion.

That is where they live,
where they get their breath:
there in the gap between,
the empty place.

Where do the mysterious artists live?
There in the gap between.
Their hands are the hinge.
No one else can breathe there.
They are beyond praise.

The ordinary artists
use patience, passion, skill, work
and returning to work, judgement,
proportion, intellect, purpose,
indifference, obstinacy, delight in tools,
delight, and with these as their way
they approach the gap, the hub
approaching in circles, in gyres,
like the buzzard, looking down watching,
like the coyote, watching.

They look to the center,
they turn on the center,
they describe the center,
though they cannot live there.
They deserve praise.

There are people who calls themselves artists
who compete with each other for praise.
They think the center is a stuffed gut,
and that shitting is working.
They are what the buzzard and the coyote
ate for breakfast yesterday.

Precious little cards

A
apathy = disdain + self-confidence

B
Negative anticipation = worring = anxiety

C
Existential shock

D
When you feel needed and are able to give or satisfy that need, then you feel at peace

E
Temporarily ill-informed

F
Detatchment is what "protects" us from those that can hurt us the most - the ones we love the most

G
Equality of spirit

H
Allow others to come to their own decisions; let others learn and come to their own knowledge and insights

I
Life is meaningful, manageable, and comprehensible


J
This is me. I am here. I choose life, energy. I am learning how to cope.