“If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it;
blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches;
for the Creator, there is no poverty.”
—Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
On this Saturday morning, as many before,
I spend time reading poetry and listening to music —
a time to refuel my outward being
with my inter soul.
In doing so I remind myself;
I write, therefore I am a writer;
I photograph, therefore I am a photographer –
it’s just that simple, no more.
“Therefore, dear Sir, love your solitude and try to sing out with the pain it causes you. For those who are near you are far away… and this shows that the space around you is beginning to grow vast…. be happy about your growth, in which of course you can’t take anyone with you, and be gentle with those who stay behind; be confident and calm in front of them and don’t torment them with your doubts and don’t frighten them with your faith or joy, which they wouldn’t be able to comprehend. Seek out some simple and true feeling of what you have in common with them, which doesn’t necessarily have to alter when you yourself change again and again; when you see them, love life in a form that is not your own and be indulgent toward those who are growing old, who are afraid of the aloneness that you trust…. and don’t expect any understanding; but believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it.” –Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
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I remember having to learn his poem “The Panther” and that sentence we all remeber “then one image fills
and glides through the quiet tension of the limbs into the heart” has stuck
We may always have the image, some of which can’t be put into words. Thanks for stopping by and the comment.
You are so welcome Ken