"I am an artist, and I have to have courage ... Do you know that I don't have any artworks that exist? They all go away when they're finished. Only the preparatory drawings, and collages are left, giving my works an almost legendary character. I think it takes much greater courage to create things to be gone than to create things that will remain."
-Christo Javachev
I love this quote. To me, it seems an inherent existential struggle as well as a struggle among our species that life is temporary. We are trivial in the scope of time, and I know that has to at least scare some of us. Berger and Luckmann comment in The Social Construction of Reality about how religion, for some, satiates that void by placing that potential meaningless in God's hand. Certainly, we must mean something then, right? I had always hoped to a recognized scholar, not so much during my life, but at least after I passed, influencing those who come after me. Though I still long to be an academic, it is to a lesser degree that I want to be remember. I'd rather change something without being noted for that ideal. Pessimistically unlikely, but yet that potential exists. This quote, however, shook me for a moment. He is right. What courage it must take to allow time devour you and your meaning, your work, your energy. Kudos to those who have such courage in our Brave New World. Live on strong, at least you are living for something.
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