Is it Better to Burn Out?

Is it Better to Burn Out?

In his frequently quoted and often debated song, “Hey Hey, My My,” Neil Young said, “it’s better to burn out than to fade away.” This song speaks to the artistry of gritty music that makes its point in an often assaulting or fiery display and soon disappears. Young pays tribute to the punk scene, grunge music, and all music with the ability to transcend genres through its emphasis of the sudden explosion or burst of imagination in music, making it relevant. I have recently been haunted by Young’s lyrics and I began pondering how Young’s philosophy applies to the writing process.

I have always attributed my success, if you can call it that, to my tenacity. After all, I am not the most intelligent human being. Don’t get me wrong, I have been complimented/insulted with such statements/criticisms as, “You think far too much.” This of course, if you think about it, doesn’t say anything about my level of intelligence. There are far too many of my peers who are better read than me. I am no grammar Nazi. But what I have always prided myself on is my tenacity. Sheer force and willpower has carried me through the majority of my undergrad classes. But what is a writer to do when she is tired, really fucking tired of it all. Maybe this exasperation is coming from the fact that it is week 8 of the last quarter of my undergrad degree. Nevertheless, the question of how to keep a student or writer’s fire stoked is an ongoing concern of mine.

 In the past I would thrive when my back was against the wall. Tell me I can’t do it. Tell me someone else is better than me and I come out rhetorically swinging.  But what do you do when you are all alone and all that you have is a slew of due dates staring you in the face. There is no professor baiting you. There are no intense personal dilemmas weighing you down that you must break free of. It is just you and total silence. In these instances, I suppose, a writer must turn to dedication, but dedication is such an uninteresting word. Dedication doesn’t fire you up or burn your gut. I guess I am just addicted to the rush of always teetering on the edge of running out of gas. Now I am finally running out. Now what? Guts can get you through an undergrad program, but I doubt they’re enough to ensure success in a master’s program, let alone a PhD program.  If you are looking for some big answer that is going to recharge and re-inspire your waning passion or provide you with some insightful life plan, I haven’t got it. All I can offer is my honesty and strange musings. So I turn this over to you, reader. What do you do to keep charged? What inspires your writing or more specifically successful longevity?

Lennon weighed in on Young’s message and harshly criticized it defending the brilliance of an artist with staying power. He basically criticized Young’s glamorization of early tragic death, insisting he valued vitality and artists like Gloria Swanson and Greta Garbo. I suppose both Young and Lennon have valid points, but I can’t help being continually attracted to the destructive flame. Then again, “once you are gone you can never come back."