Catherine’s Writing

Leave a comment Posted on Essays

Writer’s Conflict:

It seems there are categories and varying ranges of and barriers between different art forms. When one writes fiction others assume it derives from imaginary people and events. Yet under that umbrella lies different genres such as thrillers and spiritual writing. The authors of the former genre are not accused of being criminal masterminds regardless of how compelling their plot is, yet writers of the latter genre like Paulo Coelho end up being identified as embodying the style they write as he is often called a spiritual ‘guru’ which he does not necessarily agree with.

Then there is the blurred lines between one’s personal life and professional life. Musicians such as Adele and Chris Martin write about melancholy moments and past flames regardless of whether their relationship status is blissfully committed or lonesome. Taylor Swift blatantly throws shade via 3 1/2 minutes of musical and lyrical composition.

Although some poems are about very real experiences, some are mere emotional remnants involving no people or circumstances just raw emotion. Sometimes it’s an amalgamation of emotions from career frustrations to romantic heartache and general heartache because it is not just lovers that stab that organ.

Additionally we have actors who actively engage with other people in many ways from unleashing rage to exhibiting lust for a visual production. If actors in relationships can make out with someone else for the whole world to see why can’t I write about some stuff that happened in the past? I give myself permission to write about most things because I know that if it is written about its significance in my life becomes negated via my writing. And if I’m writing about past relationships (the x2 guys I’ve only ever dated): well yeah that’s what girls do. But it is never about a particular guy: the focus is always feelings, feelings and more feelings.

So having or not having a boyfriend will never stop me writing what I do because ultimately my poetry is part of the process of expelling and reducing the magnitude of the over-powering reaction/dread/anguish I felt about something. It is a purge of permanent proportions. It is a risk we artists must take. I mean how does Adele feel singing about a particular bad relationship- for the rest of her career? Yet the pain is what resonates with her listeners. It is not about an ex-boyfriend named X, it is about actions, disappointments and emotional triggers that we can all relate to. It is a complex dynamic of vulnerability and acceptability. It doesn’t matter if the songs are about a hellish string of bad relationships or one huge devastating break-up. The songs or paintings or books have to be created because they are powerful experiences and we have experienced fragments of it or will do sometime in our life. When someone is bold enough to confess it through art we can seek solace from it. For the perpetrators, well that is just sweet revenge for the suffering soul who had to create it in the first place. In the end it doesn’t really matter and therein lies the acceptability because ultimatly the lyrics of heartbreak are a universal expression of any type of pain.

A final note is that these experiences good or generally bad are the content triggers without them we’d be empty and bare with nothing much to say. He, she, it: does not matter.

One thing is for sure none of my poems are about anyone particular person. How is that? Because y’all are so boring, y’all are Philistines. Why else would I be writing as much as I do? My poems are not about people they are about emotion. And let’s face it the emphasis is always me, myself and I. 😛 Furthermore my writing is more veiled and deeper than I’m given credit for.

Case in point:

“LOST LOVE”
I don’t know when you set off.
Or was it when I got lost?
I lost you. Love.
To fail at a Dream is a Luxury.
To forget a Dream is a Tragedy.
This is our Purpose in Life. Don’t let convention stab you with a knife!
Do as you please. Be selfish. But be generous too.
Because in this world there is
Me & You.
So reach out, hold onto it dearly. In your heart you see what you want Clearly.

 

Part of me is always wanting to explicitly explain everything another part of me treats my poems like they are thorns pulled out my body never to be in contact with again. There’s always that friction and that is what makes the most compelling content. But then I feel the need to defend my work so it does not get miscast. This is not a poem about any form of love. It is a separate stream of passion. The passion that is connected to our inquiring minds as to what to do with this gift we are given called life. It is simply about following your passions and dreams in life. Pronouns are provocative. “I don’t know when you set off,” is not about a lover or friend or whoever leaving or abandoning you. It is within the context of what the longings of our imaginations are; of how we idealize our life to be. It is about remembering that invincible kid inside us who used to believe that anything was possible. The finals words: “Me & You” is my way of symbolically concluding that in reality there is no need for the finale, no need for that happily ever after with someone else because there are only two fulfilling paths in life: 1) God 2) Pursuing that thing that makes your soul shine.

Of course if someone wants to believe it exists in a romantic capacity then take it as that. People think what they want…. So whatever.

I appreciate the need for ambiguity to just leave my writing as is but sometimes it’s nice for me to just put it out there about what my work is really all about. I could write essay’s on my poems, I find it that enjoyable!

Copyright © 2016 Catherine Vaughan
Leave a comment Posted on Author's Journey, Bohemians

The Bohemian Essayist, Abolitionist & Philosopher: Henry David Thoreau

Benjamin D. Maxham - Henry David Thoreau - Restored.jpg

Source

This time last year I paraphrased an immensely inspiring quote by Henry David Thoreau “I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” 

 

A year later I am truly living by this. This time last year I was jobless, feeling depressed/hopeless and had health problems-I’m still recovering there are still ups and downs but I have accomplished so much in recent weeks alone. A year after originally sharing that quote I have x3 books, online boutiques and so much more in the works.

Thoreau is our September selection because his words are deep and meaningful. If I hadn’t learned the importance to live a dream one imagines and desires – albeit vaguely – my blog – would not have continued on, there’d be no publications by me… If someone told me this time last year that not only would I be inspired by Thoreau’s word but I would actually take action and accomplish so much so fast I wouldn’t have believed you.

I’m taking a moment to look and assess how far I’ve come in such a short time frame. I’ve met lot’s of interesting creative types, I’ve read and taken the time to understand the importance of following your dreams. I’ve not just been listening and reading I have taken relevant steps to applying what I’ve learned sometimes they’ve been small steps others quantum leaps into making my dreams and passions a reality (some passions were simply dormant and unknown to me-I only ever had a vague ideally of what I wanted which was essentially to get published.) I’m also working hard to make sure that this all combines to provide myself a good career path.

And so my dear and very loyal reader’s I shall leave you with more inspiring quotes by Henry and who knows maybe it could spark a creative streak of success for you too! Good luck!

♡ “Dreams are the touchstones of our characters.” 

♡  “Be yourself- not your idea of what you think somebody else’s idea of yourself should be.” 

♡  “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”  

Leave a comment Posted on Essays

Ignore em’, trash em’. Rolling with Rowling…

“You’ll never make money writing children’s book,” said an Authors agent. Then you’re faced with 12 rejections of your manuscript. What now? What next?

Why bother?

What now? Hand your book proposal to another Publisher. What next? Get your book published. Why bother? Because you have worked hard to craft and polish your children’s book manuscript, you feel compelled to get the story published, and why not just go for it? Hmmm 12 publisher rejections is a lot. Maybe you won’t make any money with this book, maybe the children’s genre is not a safe bet?

It’ll never succeed, this was all a wasted effort. I’ll stop. That’s it, enough is enough. Maybe the agent and publishers are right. My book is pointless, it won’t sell.

What if J.K Rowling had ended her thought trail on the above sentiments? 12 manuscript rejections, the utterance of children’s book not making money by her own literary agent. This all happened to the author of the multi-million selling Harry Potter books. What if she never got past no, never got past the disbelief, past the disappointments? She’d be just like the rest of us. Nothing wrong with that. But think of all that she would have missed out on: the film and franchise of her beloved Harry and becoming the World’s 1st Billionaire Author! She still is like the rest of us: enjoying family, taking the bus with the same insecurities and same desire for happiness in life.

So sometimes we have to ignore the critics say eff-U to those lacking faith in your genuine brilliance and trash the insecurities to do what you were born to do, even if it just means getting it outta your system and completing a goal.

Sometimes so called experts o the highly experienced are wrong. Sometimes you have to get their opposing views outta your head because they are just plain wrong and they are more than opposing you they are oppressing you. True leadership and brilliance is rare and sometimes a Ph.D is meaningless other times not. It’s a constant weighing up and making black and white what we do and what we hear.

First analyse and rigorously dissect the good, bad and ugly of your work or goals. If it is truly good enough go for it. Focus on it:

Follow

One

Course

Until

Successful

And then you meet the gatekeepers they say no. Plough through or find another passageway to get into. The CEO, the project manager or the publisher says no. Is it true what they are saying? Sometimes it might not be. You cannot disregard specialist’s. But other times you may have to. That’s the hard part, having to efficiently identify that distinction. Sadly all the titles, qualificatiosn and experience can be futile, and their opinion is simply an abyss into Hell if you follow their ‘advice’.

Ignore them and you may be taking the Stairway to Heaven or Highway to Hell. That’s a distinction to figure out later when you hit the Big Time!

Copyright © 2015 by Catherine Vaughan All rights reserved. This article or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the blogger except for the use of brief quotations in non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.