Letter to the Leaves: There is No Try, Only Do

My Fellow Contributors,

While researching the life of Charles Bukowski for our Facebook profile's "People of Character," I came across a quote that he had etched into his grave stone.

"Don't Try"

I was troubled at first glance, but as I researched more into his life, I found it strangely gratifying.

I mean, think about it. To try is to accept the fact that you might fail. But to do is to resist failure and leave her in the rear view mirror.

This reminded me of a few lines spoken by the famous fictional philosopher, Yoda, in The Empire Strikes Back.

"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try"

I remember hearing these same lines, from my sixth grade Drama and Performing Arts teacher. The point she was trying to convey is that "to try" implies to the receiver of such a phrase that the sender is not fully confident and wants to give a sense of possible failure whether conscious of this intention or not.

The power of language to guide and shape our subconscious is without doubt. When Bukowski says, "Don't Try," he means do not set out to write great poetry or the next classic novel. Let it flow out of you. When we try we put up dams which block the flow of words. But when we let the Muses take over and let them guide our pens we find that we have uncovered something in ourselves that is mystic and cosmic. Something that doesn't even feel like us.

It's as if Milton and Ginsberg and Burroughs and Kerouac and Shakespeare and James and Howells and Twain and Emerson and Whitman and Poe and Hemingway and Sartre and Sedgwick and Dickinson and Austin have met in your mind to form an unctuous orgy in your unconscious, leaving their love children to berth themselves onto your page.

I find it strangely gratify to relieve myself on the page without trying. To relax and release and let go.

Remember as writers we're are a mixture of mediums.

1st is the writer who uses words to create clay.

2nd is the reviser who molds and shapes the clay into a form.

3rd is the editor who bakes and hardens the form into a sculpture.

4th is the publisher who displays the sculpture and shares it with love.

5th is the viewer who looks, reads, and touches. Appreciating art in all its minute nuances which strike with each sight.

Greatness comes not from the writer but from the reviser and editor.

Remember, just do it, think later.

But if you feel like you've hit a wall laced with writer's block, then please:

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:

You have to live vicariously in order to write interestingly.

And On the Road was written by Kerouac when he was 29, after he had lived through the lines he let flow onto that long continuous script.


As Always

Undoubtedly Yours,
Bermuda

Letter to the Leaves: We as English Majors

I want to make it known that as an English major, I at times feel as an outsider. All too often in my classes do I hear how he's been reading books since he’s been in middle school, or how they've got this published or that published. I see how some of my fellow classmates use knowledge as social currency and think that they are wealthier then someone who is less able to present their self in the written word.

As English majors, we have to acknowledge that we view education differently than others.

Because so much of our worth is intangible, we are quick to defend it at all costs. We have put so much time and effort into reading and acquiring this motivation for self-education that we forget that not everyone has this.

In the sciences, people expect the instructor to tell them the right answer. This is expected because most if not all of the time there is only ONE right answer. It is as simple as "put this in, get this out". Tests are multiple-choice and leave no room for the self.

English isn't like that. All we have to do is justify our ideas with a few lines from the text and we arrive at a correct answer (thus we are all critics with our own critical theory; We create this critical theory, from our sense of self). We have all had that kid in class who is way off base, but the teacher still gives him a pat on the back.

He gets that pat on the back because in English there is partial credit. We reward effort.

Sciences do not. It’s all or nothing. And with all this emphasis on the correct answer, the end, why is it so surprising to you instructors that this is your students’ main concern.

We as a society have shifted from transcending Emerson to deifying Einstein.

We live in a world of instant gratification.

To call your students "idiotic", "stupid" or "unmotivated" is superficial. You are criticizing the effect and not the cause.

But Bermuda, it’s not a lack of ability. These students are not mindless robots programmed by society. They can still choose to make an attempt. You see Bermuda, all it is a lack of effort.

Yeah, I agree. It’s totally a lack of effort and not a lack of ability for most students. But you see that’s where you instructors come in. You have the toughest job of all because you have to reverse this social norm. You have to inspire your students to want to better their self for more than a piece of paper.

But you must understand that genuine inspiration cannot be given, but must be fostered.

No one should be in a position to instruct if they cannot put aside their self-wealth to see the promise each student has. It is your job to show these students the relevance writing and reading have for their lives.

Now, there are always going to be people who just go to college to get a piece of paper. But those are going to be the same people who go through life as a means to an end.

They will never know the beauty of a sunrise, the soothing echo of the ocean waves, or the invigorating power of mountain air.

And even this is not the greatest tragedy. A tragedy more egregious, is their loss of self-reliance.

People are no longer reliant on themselves as they once were for knowledge. We are slowly losing that aspect as more and more of our society becomes Google-able.

But as English majors, this is our duty to the world:

To show the rest, the relevance of writing, the importance of reading, and most of all,

The beauty inherent in the self.

Undoubtedly Yours,
Bermuda