A Little Uplift For Anyone Feeling Down

This passed weekend, while visiting my parents in Santa Barbara, I found myself with a few hours to kill, so I decided to go for a walk. With no destination in mind, I let my ears guide me and was drawn to what turned out to be the hustle and bustle of a four mile strip of stores, restaurants, and bars. While walking down this strip I was immediately entranced by all of the musicians scattered amongst the street. I spent some time listening to each of them, my favorite being the drummer who played on trash cans and used the wheels of cars as his symbols, and was impressed by the talent of many of these musicians and found myself wondering why none of these musicians, steaming with talent, have yet to make it off the street and onto a stage. As I continued down the strip I saw a sign for a poetry reading outside of one of the book stores and slipped in to what turned out to be more of a hallway with bookshelves on either side than a bookstore. At the very end of this “hallway” was an opening with a stool in the center. This opening acted as the stage and the stool as the podium. The poets reading were fantastic, and their ability to not only read their poetry but also perform it was impressive. And again, I found myself wondering why I had never heard of these poets before, and why their names were not known by more than just those crammed into a hallway of a bookstore. And I thought about this on my way back to my parent's house.

Now I have no answers for you as to why some great musicians spend their whole lives on the corner of a street and are never recognized, or why some sub-par musicians get their names put up in lights. I can't tell you why certain poet's verses are heard by many, while others spend their existence only echoing off the shelves of small bookstores. But I can tell you this: You can never stop writing. If you love to write poetry, but are told that your poems are not good enough by one person, keep writing and show them to another. You never know what effect your work will have on your reader, or listener, or observer. The key is to never stop, and to show your work off to as many people as possible. The more accessible your work is, the higher the chances are that people will read it. Think of it as self advertising. Whether that be reading at a poetry reading, submitting to a literary magazine, or just simply to stand on the street corner and sing or read what your have written, it does not matter. What matters is that you put your work out there for others to see and develop their own opinions about. And who knows? Maybe, one day you'll find yourself or your work in the right place at the right time, and the right person will hear it or see it and love it. And the rest remains to be told.

Until next time friends,

Nick Hart