Things that are real take a lifetime to express.

Just finished reading Patti Smith’s book Just Kids. It’s been on my shelf for awhile and I’m so glad I finally got to it.

The book is very inspiring… she’s a great writer and has had a fascinating life. Her relationship with Mapplethorpe was instructive about how we can truly create space for one another to explore the edges of our passions and go places we may not go on our own. And I love that her last collaborative project with him included the film ‘Still Moving‘ that brought together all their gifts–photography, poetry, improv, art, performance. But my favorite line in the whole book was this one: “Robert dying: created silence. Myself, destined to live, listening closely to a silence that would take a lifetime to express.”

I’ve often beat myself up for things taking so long. “Why can’t I just be there already? Why am I STILL trying to define and share about this intelligence under the surface? Can’t I just stop and enjoy the fruits of my labor?”

It’s been 13 years since I was first forcefully introduced to an amazing intelligent field of energy that lies under the surface of our consciousness. 13 years since my first Psychology of Metaphor class. …and I’m STILL grappling with it, still haven’t been able to adequately convey what I’ve seen and experienced, nor been able to translate the power of it. But Patti Smith solidified the artist in me.

Artists take journeys into places that no one has ever gone. And if it’s a real journey, it will take a lifetime to express it.