The Sheila Variations

Klimt

I've always loved Gustav Klimt - there's something sweepingly romantic and yet also somehow (I don't know how - I just know my response to it) melancholy to his work. It's almost like looking BACK on someone you loved ... someone you once loved and now lost. His work shimmers with that kind of bittersweet pain. I love it.

And I love Mental Multivitiman too - for posting this fascinating excerpt of Klimt writing about his work and his process. Amazing.

By the way, Mental Multivitamin is always my first pit-stop in the morning when I get online. I've said it before ... her site helps clear out the cobwebs (if I have cobwebs, I mean). Her writing is a wonderful reminder ... always ... of the kind of person I strive to be, and the kind of life I want to live. Not that I always need reminders ... it's just nice that it's there, should I require a pick-me-up. Recently, she re-linked to one of her old posts - one of my favorites of hers. I'm sure it would rub some people the wrong way - I can almost feel the backs getting up - self-righteous and defensive - but (again) those people are not my kind of people. And that's cool - it takes all kinds, right? - but it is best (for me) to hang out with people where I don't have to explain or defend my passions. I don't enjoy that fight in the slightest. It is best for me to hang out with people who understand having passions, and share the same values. This is the type of site I want to have. I got that from Mental Multivitamin one day in one of her numerous posts on Shakespeare. She writes:

I honestly don't know what to say to folks who could, in seriousness, maintain that Shakespeare -- the inventor of the human -- is unimportant. Nothing I said, however well articulated or carefully stated, would deter them from that (misinformed) position. And, as I grow older, I find that I'm less and less inclined to fight against such ignorance. A bemused sigh and furrowed brow might be all you can offer when confronted with -- well, I typed such fools but realized that some of you might find that too harsh and dismissive, so I'll go with people who hold that view.

Heh, heh, heh.

I also suggested that L. take a peek at this entry. There is, I am certain, something about the pursuit of excellence that some people simply. don't. get. But life is short, and the struggle to win over the ignorant is, in my experience, futile. I'd rather discuss Hamlet than attempt to persuade someone of Shakespeare's value.

Amen. And so I agree with everything she says here about making time to read. It all comes down to choice. And choosing the way you want to live your life, as opposed to being victimized by trying to fit into a lifestyle that does not suit you. This has always been important to me - because certain things just don't matter to me ... and I used to pretend they mattered - because people look at you funny if you say, "You know what? I totally don't care about that stuff. I'd rather read." But that post on Mental Multivitamin says it way better than I could. If you want time to read, then you make time. Reading to me is not something I do in my spare time. It is something I must do. Every day. This requires sacrifice in other areas. I'm prepared to do that. If you don't want to make those sacrifices, then fine, don't make them, and live the life that you choose. But don't talk about not "having time". Those of us who need solitude - and a LOT of it - in order to maintain emotional equilibrium - know the necessity of making that time.

Every Friday, Mental Multivitamin does a "Fine Art Friday" post - and they're always delightful, surprising ... and I always learn something. Here's the full archive.

One of my favorite sites ever. It pulses with learning, thinking, curiosity, joy.

Posted by sheila