Writing is just reiterating all the thoughts and concepts we have taken in all of our lives. Very interesting writing. You are so good at relaying the wisdom you have in your heart. So interesting you are. Thank you for such a warm welcome here. Keep writing, it changes people.
Jenny thank you so much, it is so heartwarming to know you’d resonated with the work. What an honor. I’m just as excited to delve into what you choose to share.
I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear this until I came your piece bc I’ve been wondering the same for a long time. I used to find myself constantly overthinking about how my work needs to stand out from others in order to be seen but that led me nowhere because i want to write about what I feel, what I experience and what I feel and experience is felt and experienced by so many humans and I love that. Thank you for sharing this, it’s beautifully written Akif! 🫶🏽
Thank you! It means a lot to me that you took time out of your day to share this with me. It’s an honour. I try to write from a place of “unknowingness” rather than prescriptively because I think there’s a lot of comfort in knowing just how universal all of our foundational feelings are. We’ve all stood there and overanalyzed our masterpiece into the trash, far before anyone else even had a chance to criticize us.
It makes a lot of sense though. We’re humans, and humans are social creatures. Social creatures want to be accepted. Still, I hope you know I’m very eager to read your work, as I hope you are to read your own! <3
Oogah boogah! Pick your boogahs (preferably with a tissue, but then that deprives you of the visceral experience, and what good is a booger picked if not picked for the satisfaction of picking? A booger picked to open up the nasal passage is a booger picked as a means to an end. Does such a booger hold any value? Is such a booger art? Still, if all means to an end matter, than all boogers matter, even those picked with a tissue. So pick yer boogers!)
Sorry lol, I haven't slept a wink last night and its past sunrise now so I might be a lil drunk on my lack of sleep.
I love that quote about nobody was listenting, so we gotta say it all again. And please, I definitely wasn't listenting when you were telling your friends about No Logo for the thousanth time, so I'd love to read a post about your fav insights from the book. Or if you've already made such a post, please tell me which one!
Walyullah you are a gem hahaha. See the universality of the premise in the work of "all is a means to an end" is perfectly depicted by you here. It's almost infuriating to acknowledge, but I think we can never do anything that isn't laden with purpose, what a terrifying yet beautiful thing. Can't even pick your nose in idleness!
But all of that aside, I'm also deeply grateful for the time you spared to give this a read and share this moment with me. I apologise in advance for the delayed response on account of Eid and a fever, but I really want to extend my heartfelt thanks to you.
As for the book No Logo, please read it! It is absolutely fantastic. I am actually considering diversifying the writing I put up here to contain book reviews, poetry and other mediums I often keep to myself. No Logo will definitely be reviewed.
Why thank you! It would have been quite funny if you called me a booger haha, but gem sounds nice 😆.
No need to apologize! Eid can ve quite the ordeal, and I hope the fever is all better now. I was so dead the day after Eid that I only replied to Eid Munarak messages and never sent any to anyone lol.
I look forward to the poetry and book reviews and more! Please tag me when you share poetry, and ofc the No Logo review, if you remember. No pressure.
Also you can thank Jeri for her restack of your post which brought to you my racoonism (a term I'm starting to use in place of antics cuz it sounds cooler; I live in racoon city (Toronto); I own at least half a dozen racoon skulls (all ethically sourced—dw I'm a normal dude, Jeri can vouch for me lmao)).
my pleasure! it’s a brilliant isn’t it?? and i agree i want to also know more about the favourite insights from that book No Logo, InshaAllah maybe, perhaps it already exists on here? we will find out
also i read your entire comment and it made sense in my mind completely, so yes normal hahaha, rhythmic sense even
Everything has been said, felt or done already but not everything has been said, felt or done by YOU - this could be what makes it art and you an artist. Art being the mean to experience, or remember, a instant that is new to you, a connection to the collective. I was also thinking about how means can become art. Think of a biology student for the first time looking at a specific cell deformation. They are doing the same lab exercise as 20 other students, an exercise that has been repeated over 20 other cohort, but yet the interpretation and feelings that student might feel at that moment could also be art? ANYWAYS I love you and I love reading you.
Pfff fully. Playing your own role in the “scenius”. No two pairs of eyes and a consciousness see the same thing. Much of my writing is never meant to be prescriptive, but rather a starting point for a discussion I have no clear answers to, so best believe what you have to say matters a lot.
I think the big thing my writing misses out on is the importance of “the moment”, and how the particular sociopolitical environment plays such a massive role in the importance of what you create.
I love you more, and I can’t wait to see you soon angel. <3
Wonderful essay. A lot to ponder and think on. Solomon said a few years back, there is nothing new under the sun. This lends towards the nihilistic and I hate to go down that path. Jaded and cynical attitudes just seem to be functions of misguided focus, even in Solomon’s case. Solomon’s advice in the end was to love God and obey his commandments. That said, the brilliance of our creation is that we all experience things just a bit differently. We can and do have original thought everyday and we can write in ways that make others say, “oh, I like that, I never thought about it that way before.” Is it derivative? Possibly. Likely even. But relativity comes into play. If it is original to you, then it’s likely original to most others. As we expand technologically, creating new products and experiences, the thinkers of the past couldn’t have dreamed of what we may experience now and in the future. I’d consider that progression of development to be original thought. You mention we give ourselves too much credit but I would also be sure to give yourself enough credit. You have a fascinating and beautiful mind that can astound people with your writing. I can’t wait to see the “originality” that you will create in your work to come.
Thank you for taking a couple of moments of your day to read this Billy, means a lot to me. Also, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I often write with a metaphorical “comma” at the end, because I write about topics that are universally human, to which nobody can take a moral claim of understanding. For that reason, this type of commentary matters so much to me as it helps shape my outlook moving forward.
That being said, I really enjoy what’s implied by Solomons quote. I had another conversation earlier in which I realized I perhaps didn’t put enough value on the “context” of time in this regard. Sure, everything felt has already been felt at a foundational level, but that feeling means a very different thing in a prehistoric era, versus a tech-fuelled dystopia. In that sense, a creation becomes original to its context in time.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply Akif. I just sensed some doubt and a bit of what’s the point to all of this anyway creeping in to what you had written. I’ve had periods of depression in my life and had thoughts parallel to what you expressed. Is this all sort of meaningless? What am I doing here? And honestly there is an attraction of sorts, even to depression. I’ve learned to minimize those thoughts. Don’t let them take root. It’s ok and inevitable that they fly through your mind but don’t let them come to roost. I happened to stumble onto this essay and you have brilliance in you. Keep writing. Keep creating.
You've got a point there Billy. Inevitably, to build up "better", there was a sort of metaphorical "tearing down" of the previously engrained learnings I had taken from my nurture that had to happen. Elements of cynicism indeed have crept their way in from time to time, but I'm grateful for individuals like yourself, as well as loved ones, who claim their space and state their thoughts. It helps shape my view too!
You're completely right in highlighting the paradoxical attraction. One of my favourite pieces (still in the works) speaks on that very topic of how we can make a home of anything, even the discomfort we so desperately might want to rid ourselves of. I'm excited to bring it to life and also delve further into your own work sometime. Thank you for being here!
Thank you for the beautiful and thoughtful reply. We’re all in this together. Thoughts and ideas abound and we have to make our way. The Bible says in many places, seek and you will find. You’re doing the seeking. You will find what you’re looking for.
One is a sleeper insofar as sleeping is consubstantial with achieved identity. Or, with ascribed identities, one is a sleeper if exceeding the ascribing society's norms of sleeping (i.e. sleeping more frequently than is deemed healthful). RE creative: is he/she more inclined to create than the average person? Does his/her creativity accede to a preternatural level? I've always found 'creative' as a noun grammatically impotent, hence my aversion to it.
RE logo/branding: Didn't Enheduanna become the world's first recorded author by inscribing her name at the end of each of her poems/hymns (colophon)? There are initiatives to controvert that episteme. The School of Life publishes polemics as an anonymous collective. I recommend 'How Modern Media Destroys Our Minds'.
Thank you Annie for your thoughts, and for sparing some time to read this. Means a lot to me. You’re right I agree entirely with you that ‘creative’ is redundant as a noun, hence the sleeper analogy as well. It sits upon very strange principles to work as a noun, even more so to work as an achievable occupation pegged to an economic standard.
Also thank you for the recommendation! I like anything I write to be a starting point of discussion, not a prescriptive, so I’m very excited to learn more.
Whenever I read that Gide quote, I think: And they won't be listening this time around either, Andre. It's hard to discuss Art without making it sound like a form of secular religion. It lends itself perfectly to the murky, exalted, gnomic statements that formerly found a home in religious discourse. The finger of god became the finger of Marcel Duchamp, and the fun began.
I totally hear you, but I feel that this ensuing discussion since I published this article has helped refine my thoughts in the past day or so. A key point that I think is missed in the original work is a rightful reference to how important “contextual timing” is. As humans, we are inevitably interconnected, despite the lengths big capital goes to convince us of our hyper-individuality. As such, things that matter to you will inevitably matter on a grander scale. It’s always worth putting the art out there because there’s someone who inevitably needs it. This can just be done by freeing ourselves from the “originality” shame.
Thank you for sparing a moment to share this with me, Alina. I’m glad it made you feel some way. I love what you put out there too. Half the time I write because I’m confused, so it feels nice to share these moments. <3
There’s a really interesting book about this question of what it means to be creative by Rick Rubin called „The creative act“ - a way of being
And yes problaby we make art in the moments in which we just exist and let come through us whatever wants to come
Like a child that just does whatever comes to mind.. play, eat, beat that tree, pet that sheep, repeat,..
just following intuition without even having a goal maybe comes close to real creating
And I think he more pure something comes through a person the more it carries the beauty of the world that we can not even grasp but transport if we don’t look for it. And this gets recognized by others as we know when we see real beauty
As Goethe already said: „it has to come from the heart to reach hearts“ or something like that
So I would love to see you writing more just for the sake of it :)
I love this book! Thanks for the mention, I should finish it. As a light easy read, it helped me a lot with grounding my practice in pride, not shame. I really enjoy how Rick speaks of the "scenius", implying that we don't ever create ideas, but rather they find us as their vessel. In turn, if we're unwilling to actualise the idea, it'll go find a vessel that is.
I think that's what is probably most enviable about children; the unapologetic presence. All decisions to some extent are made based on whats at mind at that very moment. As we grow up, we seem to lose that. The "revelation" lies in realising that, as is said in the Goethe reference you shared. Thank you for this, really.
You are super welcome and somehow I am not surprised that you already know the book :)
I also did not finish it, just day by day I open a random page in the morning and usually it gives the perfect input for my day. Also nice as I replaced the first touch on my phone in the morning with touching that book haha
wow to have a glimpse in to your mind through your writing, i can only imagine the astonishment if i could truly have a peak inside. amazing trail of thought, although id refer to it as more of a web, meeting all the intricacies together in a neat and and understandable pile.
the section about everything has already been done, “everything that can be felt, has already been felt”. sometimes in large groups i sink in to the background and hear all the jobs they are talking about, and the current state of the world and i think about how as humans we haven’t changed at all not since we were cavemen. every style of job has existed and the things that we call “less developed” have just been hidden and wrapped in neat packaging over in “developed countries”.
in reference to Amsterdam which is known for its sex work for example, i think of how this has become “cool” if you “own” the means of controlling it yourself through modern technology of only fans. but in essence it is the same there has been rarely any progression in human forms of output since humans arrived, we just re package, re brand and give it a fancier name. what is a night club of booked tables by wealthier people to bring in the less wealthy but a fancier version of brothel with half consented and over consumed barely legal adults?? in short this might seem extreme but perhaps it deserves a long thought out piece as you have written here
anyway…apologies if this is a bit abstract typing my thoughts out loud. i definitely agree that there is an end to everything and by that there is a means to art, and maybe that is okay. i started substack as a void to let out my thoughts and now it’s grown, my means has become to find community but still to teach myself how to be vulnerable in putting emotions in to words or through painting a picture with them.
to pursue this means of art is to feel it, to give feeling to others and you’re writing does just that so definitely continue with the pat on the back you gave yourself as the brilliant writer you are and InshaAllah we continue to have the privilege of reading your posts on here Akif!!
Jeri thank you so much as always, it's so sweet to hear this. I'm really thankful for your insights. In terms of writing I often choose to write from a place of confusion rather than certainty, so the end product tends to lack a linear structure, but it's also meant to be a starting point of thoughts for discussion, and I love that you took it that way, nothing wrong with being abstract! On the contrary, I'd love to hear it all.
Whether it's your job, your craft, or your moral compass, it seems all is deeply embedded with reason. Everything is a means to an end. It's interesting to see the variety of ways in which the statement has been understood, as I do want to underpin that it's not a cynical thing to me. You demonstrate perfectly how the "end" to which you employ means can be so positively impactful, both within your personal life and beyond it. After all, if you didn't take to writing, we likely would've never met!
As I’ve come to expect, this is another ravishingly honest essay, brimming with both self-doubt and self-awareness, and it touches a nerve most of us try hard to deaden: the haunting suspicion that everything’s already been said, felt, done…. better.
But here’s my heretical addition to the choir: maybe it’s not about originality at all, and never was. Maybe we’ve misunderstood creativity because we’ve mistaken innovation for evocation. The caveman didn’t invent sadness when he scratched his grief into a rock face — he summoned it. And that, I’d argue, is the real work of art: not to be original, but to re-originate: to recall, rekindle, reframe.
You say “Art with an end is a means,” and it’s a brilliant provocation. But what if we flipped it? What if the most powerful art is always a means, just not a means to market, to metrics, or to the ego’s applause, but a means to remembrance? A remembering not just of emotion, but of being?
Consider Bach’s Mass in B Minor. It isn’t “original” in content, he reuses melodies, borrows harmonies. But when it hits you in the chest, it feels like hearing something you’ve always known but forgotten, like a memory you didn’t know you had. That, to me, is art. Not invention, but INVOCATION.
In that sense, maybe derivative isn’t a dirty word, it is the entire point. Our task is not to be first, but to be true. Not to find a new thought, but to hold a thought like a prism and turn it slightly, letting the light catch a new facet.
You reference Gide, beautifully. Let me add another Frenchman to the mix: Roland Barthes. He reminds us that the author is dead, that meaning belongs to the reader. Which might just be our salvation. Because if meaning doesn’t come from us, then it doesn’t have to be original to matter. It only has to resonate.
So yes, create not to be a creative, but because creation is the most human thing we do…… Not because it’s new, but because it’s necessary.
Now go say it again. And again. Until someone listens.
Writing is just reiterating all the thoughts and concepts we have taken in all of our lives. Very interesting writing. You are so good at relaying the wisdom you have in your heart. So interesting you are. Thank you for such a warm welcome here. Keep writing, it changes people.
Jenny thank you so much, it is so heartwarming to know you’d resonated with the work. What an honor. I’m just as excited to delve into what you choose to share.
It was my pleasure my new friend.
Creativity is an asset, some live on it, some don’t even care whether they have it, others are using it on demand.
Beautifully put Ana.
I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear this until I came your piece bc I’ve been wondering the same for a long time. I used to find myself constantly overthinking about how my work needs to stand out from others in order to be seen but that led me nowhere because i want to write about what I feel, what I experience and what I feel and experience is felt and experienced by so many humans and I love that. Thank you for sharing this, it’s beautifully written Akif! 🫶🏽
Thank you! It means a lot to me that you took time out of your day to share this with me. It’s an honour. I try to write from a place of “unknowingness” rather than prescriptively because I think there’s a lot of comfort in knowing just how universal all of our foundational feelings are. We’ve all stood there and overanalyzed our masterpiece into the trash, far before anyone else even had a chance to criticize us.
It makes a lot of sense though. We’re humans, and humans are social creatures. Social creatures want to be accepted. Still, I hope you know I’m very eager to read your work, as I hope you are to read your own! <3
"Ape, together, strong."
Caveman, do art, happy. Or less sad. Or more.
Oogah boogah! Pick your boogahs (preferably with a tissue, but then that deprives you of the visceral experience, and what good is a booger picked if not picked for the satisfaction of picking? A booger picked to open up the nasal passage is a booger picked as a means to an end. Does such a booger hold any value? Is such a booger art? Still, if all means to an end matter, than all boogers matter, even those picked with a tissue. So pick yer boogers!)
Sorry lol, I haven't slept a wink last night and its past sunrise now so I might be a lil drunk on my lack of sleep.
I love that quote about nobody was listenting, so we gotta say it all again. And please, I definitely wasn't listenting when you were telling your friends about No Logo for the thousanth time, so I'd love to read a post about your fav insights from the book. Or if you've already made such a post, please tell me which one!
Hopefully my antics gave you a chuckle.
Walyullah you are a gem hahaha. See the universality of the premise in the work of "all is a means to an end" is perfectly depicted by you here. It's almost infuriating to acknowledge, but I think we can never do anything that isn't laden with purpose, what a terrifying yet beautiful thing. Can't even pick your nose in idleness!
But all of that aside, I'm also deeply grateful for the time you spared to give this a read and share this moment with me. I apologise in advance for the delayed response on account of Eid and a fever, but I really want to extend my heartfelt thanks to you.
As for the book No Logo, please read it! It is absolutely fantastic. I am actually considering diversifying the writing I put up here to contain book reviews, poetry and other mediums I often keep to myself. No Logo will definitely be reviewed.
Why thank you! It would have been quite funny if you called me a booger haha, but gem sounds nice 😆.
No need to apologize! Eid can ve quite the ordeal, and I hope the fever is all better now. I was so dead the day after Eid that I only replied to Eid Munarak messages and never sent any to anyone lol.
I look forward to the poetry and book reviews and more! Please tag me when you share poetry, and ofc the No Logo review, if you remember. No pressure.
With that, I'll see you around! Salam.
Also you can thank Jeri for her restack of your post which brought to you my racoonism (a term I'm starting to use in place of antics cuz it sounds cooler; I live in racoon city (Toronto); I own at least half a dozen racoon skulls (all ethically sourced—dw I'm a normal dude, Jeri can vouch for me lmao)).
my pleasure! it’s a brilliant isn’t it?? and i agree i want to also know more about the favourite insights from that book No Logo, InshaAllah maybe, perhaps it already exists on here? we will find out
also i read your entire comment and it made sense in my mind completely, so yes normal hahaha, rhythmic sense even
Everything has been said, felt or done already but not everything has been said, felt or done by YOU - this could be what makes it art and you an artist. Art being the mean to experience, or remember, a instant that is new to you, a connection to the collective. I was also thinking about how means can become art. Think of a biology student for the first time looking at a specific cell deformation. They are doing the same lab exercise as 20 other students, an exercise that has been repeated over 20 other cohort, but yet the interpretation and feelings that student might feel at that moment could also be art? ANYWAYS I love you and I love reading you.
Pfff fully. Playing your own role in the “scenius”. No two pairs of eyes and a consciousness see the same thing. Much of my writing is never meant to be prescriptive, but rather a starting point for a discussion I have no clear answers to, so best believe what you have to say matters a lot.
I think the big thing my writing misses out on is the importance of “the moment”, and how the particular sociopolitical environment plays such a massive role in the importance of what you create.
I love you more, and I can’t wait to see you soon angel. <3
This is an awesome and raw piece of writing, I love it. Didn’t realize how much I needed this.
Here’s some writing as thanks for yours.
https://substack.com/@lisablume/note/p-159638573?r=jzve5&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Thank you for your kind words Lisa this means a lot. And thank you for sharing some of your own! I’m excited to get into it.
Wonderful essay. A lot to ponder and think on. Solomon said a few years back, there is nothing new under the sun. This lends towards the nihilistic and I hate to go down that path. Jaded and cynical attitudes just seem to be functions of misguided focus, even in Solomon’s case. Solomon’s advice in the end was to love God and obey his commandments. That said, the brilliance of our creation is that we all experience things just a bit differently. We can and do have original thought everyday and we can write in ways that make others say, “oh, I like that, I never thought about it that way before.” Is it derivative? Possibly. Likely even. But relativity comes into play. If it is original to you, then it’s likely original to most others. As we expand technologically, creating new products and experiences, the thinkers of the past couldn’t have dreamed of what we may experience now and in the future. I’d consider that progression of development to be original thought. You mention we give ourselves too much credit but I would also be sure to give yourself enough credit. You have a fascinating and beautiful mind that can astound people with your writing. I can’t wait to see the “originality” that you will create in your work to come.
Thank you for taking a couple of moments of your day to read this Billy, means a lot to me. Also, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I often write with a metaphorical “comma” at the end, because I write about topics that are universally human, to which nobody can take a moral claim of understanding. For that reason, this type of commentary matters so much to me as it helps shape my outlook moving forward.
That being said, I really enjoy what’s implied by Solomons quote. I had another conversation earlier in which I realized I perhaps didn’t put enough value on the “context” of time in this regard. Sure, everything felt has already been felt at a foundational level, but that feeling means a very different thing in a prehistoric era, versus a tech-fuelled dystopia. In that sense, a creation becomes original to its context in time.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply Akif. I just sensed some doubt and a bit of what’s the point to all of this anyway creeping in to what you had written. I’ve had periods of depression in my life and had thoughts parallel to what you expressed. Is this all sort of meaningless? What am I doing here? And honestly there is an attraction of sorts, even to depression. I’ve learned to minimize those thoughts. Don’t let them take root. It’s ok and inevitable that they fly through your mind but don’t let them come to roost. I happened to stumble onto this essay and you have brilliance in you. Keep writing. Keep creating.
You've got a point there Billy. Inevitably, to build up "better", there was a sort of metaphorical "tearing down" of the previously engrained learnings I had taken from my nurture that had to happen. Elements of cynicism indeed have crept their way in from time to time, but I'm grateful for individuals like yourself, as well as loved ones, who claim their space and state their thoughts. It helps shape my view too!
You're completely right in highlighting the paradoxical attraction. One of my favourite pieces (still in the works) speaks on that very topic of how we can make a home of anything, even the discomfort we so desperately might want to rid ourselves of. I'm excited to bring it to life and also delve further into your own work sometime. Thank you for being here!
Thank you for the beautiful and thoughtful reply. We’re all in this together. Thoughts and ideas abound and we have to make our way. The Bible says in many places, seek and you will find. You’re doing the seeking. You will find what you’re looking for.
One is a sleeper insofar as sleeping is consubstantial with achieved identity. Or, with ascribed identities, one is a sleeper if exceeding the ascribing society's norms of sleeping (i.e. sleeping more frequently than is deemed healthful). RE creative: is he/she more inclined to create than the average person? Does his/her creativity accede to a preternatural level? I've always found 'creative' as a noun grammatically impotent, hence my aversion to it.
RE logo/branding: Didn't Enheduanna become the world's first recorded author by inscribing her name at the end of each of her poems/hymns (colophon)? There are initiatives to controvert that episteme. The School of Life publishes polemics as an anonymous collective. I recommend 'How Modern Media Destroys Our Minds'.
Thanks for this piece.
Thank you Annie for your thoughts, and for sparing some time to read this. Means a lot to me. You’re right I agree entirely with you that ‘creative’ is redundant as a noun, hence the sleeper analogy as well. It sits upon very strange principles to work as a noun, even more so to work as an achievable occupation pegged to an economic standard.
Also thank you for the recommendation! I like anything I write to be a starting point of discussion, not a prescriptive, so I’m very excited to learn more.
Whenever I read that Gide quote, I think: And they won't be listening this time around either, Andre. It's hard to discuss Art without making it sound like a form of secular religion. It lends itself perfectly to the murky, exalted, gnomic statements that formerly found a home in religious discourse. The finger of god became the finger of Marcel Duchamp, and the fun began.
I totally hear you, but I feel that this ensuing discussion since I published this article has helped refine my thoughts in the past day or so. A key point that I think is missed in the original work is a rightful reference to how important “contextual timing” is. As humans, we are inevitably interconnected, despite the lengths big capital goes to convince us of our hyper-individuality. As such, things that matter to you will inevitably matter on a grander scale. It’s always worth putting the art out there because there’s someone who inevitably needs it. This can just be done by freeing ourselves from the “originality” shame.
reading this was a good hot shower for my brain. I hope writing it felt the same for you. and yes, creating is a fundamental human right. yes.
Thank you for sparing a moment to share this with me, Alina. I’m glad it made you feel some way. I love what you put out there too. Half the time I write because I’m confused, so it feels nice to share these moments. <3
Yes I am listening....
& A damn good read.
Thank you so much for being here.
There’s a really interesting book about this question of what it means to be creative by Rick Rubin called „The creative act“ - a way of being
And yes problaby we make art in the moments in which we just exist and let come through us whatever wants to come
Like a child that just does whatever comes to mind.. play, eat, beat that tree, pet that sheep, repeat,..
just following intuition without even having a goal maybe comes close to real creating
And I think he more pure something comes through a person the more it carries the beauty of the world that we can not even grasp but transport if we don’t look for it. And this gets recognized by others as we know when we see real beauty
As Goethe already said: „it has to come from the heart to reach hearts“ or something like that
So I would love to see you writing more just for the sake of it :)
I love this book! Thanks for the mention, I should finish it. As a light easy read, it helped me a lot with grounding my practice in pride, not shame. I really enjoy how Rick speaks of the "scenius", implying that we don't ever create ideas, but rather they find us as their vessel. In turn, if we're unwilling to actualise the idea, it'll go find a vessel that is.
I think that's what is probably most enviable about children; the unapologetic presence. All decisions to some extent are made based on whats at mind at that very moment. As we grow up, we seem to lose that. The "revelation" lies in realising that, as is said in the Goethe reference you shared. Thank you for this, really.
You are super welcome and somehow I am not surprised that you already know the book :)
I also did not finish it, just day by day I open a random page in the morning and usually it gives the perfect input for my day. Also nice as I replaced the first touch on my phone in the morning with touching that book haha
I think that’s probably the best way to read that book, to be honest! It’s not much of a “start to finish” linear process haha.
wow to have a glimpse in to your mind through your writing, i can only imagine the astonishment if i could truly have a peak inside. amazing trail of thought, although id refer to it as more of a web, meeting all the intricacies together in a neat and and understandable pile.
the section about everything has already been done, “everything that can be felt, has already been felt”. sometimes in large groups i sink in to the background and hear all the jobs they are talking about, and the current state of the world and i think about how as humans we haven’t changed at all not since we were cavemen. every style of job has existed and the things that we call “less developed” have just been hidden and wrapped in neat packaging over in “developed countries”.
in reference to Amsterdam which is known for its sex work for example, i think of how this has become “cool” if you “own” the means of controlling it yourself through modern technology of only fans. but in essence it is the same there has been rarely any progression in human forms of output since humans arrived, we just re package, re brand and give it a fancier name. what is a night club of booked tables by wealthier people to bring in the less wealthy but a fancier version of brothel with half consented and over consumed barely legal adults?? in short this might seem extreme but perhaps it deserves a long thought out piece as you have written here
anyway…apologies if this is a bit abstract typing my thoughts out loud. i definitely agree that there is an end to everything and by that there is a means to art, and maybe that is okay. i started substack as a void to let out my thoughts and now it’s grown, my means has become to find community but still to teach myself how to be vulnerable in putting emotions in to words or through painting a picture with them.
to pursue this means of art is to feel it, to give feeling to others and you’re writing does just that so definitely continue with the pat on the back you gave yourself as the brilliant writer you are and InshaAllah we continue to have the privilege of reading your posts on here Akif!!
Jeri thank you so much as always, it's so sweet to hear this. I'm really thankful for your insights. In terms of writing I often choose to write from a place of confusion rather than certainty, so the end product tends to lack a linear structure, but it's also meant to be a starting point of thoughts for discussion, and I love that you took it that way, nothing wrong with being abstract! On the contrary, I'd love to hear it all.
Whether it's your job, your craft, or your moral compass, it seems all is deeply embedded with reason. Everything is a means to an end. It's interesting to see the variety of ways in which the statement has been understood, as I do want to underpin that it's not a cynical thing to me. You demonstrate perfectly how the "end" to which you employ means can be so positively impactful, both within your personal life and beyond it. After all, if you didn't take to writing, we likely would've never met!
Thank you for always sparing a moment to be here.
As I’ve come to expect, this is another ravishingly honest essay, brimming with both self-doubt and self-awareness, and it touches a nerve most of us try hard to deaden: the haunting suspicion that everything’s already been said, felt, done…. better.
But here’s my heretical addition to the choir: maybe it’s not about originality at all, and never was. Maybe we’ve misunderstood creativity because we’ve mistaken innovation for evocation. The caveman didn’t invent sadness when he scratched his grief into a rock face — he summoned it. And that, I’d argue, is the real work of art: not to be original, but to re-originate: to recall, rekindle, reframe.
You say “Art with an end is a means,” and it’s a brilliant provocation. But what if we flipped it? What if the most powerful art is always a means, just not a means to market, to metrics, or to the ego’s applause, but a means to remembrance? A remembering not just of emotion, but of being?
Consider Bach’s Mass in B Minor. It isn’t “original” in content, he reuses melodies, borrows harmonies. But when it hits you in the chest, it feels like hearing something you’ve always known but forgotten, like a memory you didn’t know you had. That, to me, is art. Not invention, but INVOCATION.
In that sense, maybe derivative isn’t a dirty word, it is the entire point. Our task is not to be first, but to be true. Not to find a new thought, but to hold a thought like a prism and turn it slightly, letting the light catch a new facet.
You reference Gide, beautifully. Let me add another Frenchman to the mix: Roland Barthes. He reminds us that the author is dead, that meaning belongs to the reader. Which might just be our salvation. Because if meaning doesn’t come from us, then it doesn’t have to be original to matter. It only has to resonate.
So yes, create not to be a creative, but because creation is the most human thing we do…… Not because it’s new, but because it’s necessary.
Now go say it again. And again. Until someone listens.