1.12.2007

Letters to an artist~

January 12, 2007

Dear Izabella,

In 1903, the poet Rainer Maria Rilke responded by letter to a young man seeking his advice. Rilke eventually wrote ten letters now collectively known and much published as "Letters to a Young Poet." They are heartfelt advice from a successful (but still struggling) artist to another who was deeply mired in self-doubt. The classic language of these letters soars in beauty as well as lofty good sense. His idealism is applicable today to all who might pursue any sort of creative activity. Yesterday, on a pathside bench deep in a blustery, storm-destroyed forest, I reread the letters. Here, partly in direct quotation and partly in condensed summation, are some of Rilke's ideas:

Your work needs to be independent of others' work.

You must not compare yourself to others.

No one can help you.

You have to help yourself.

Criticism leads to misunderstandings and defeatism.

Work from necessity and your compulsion to do it.

Work on what you know and what you are sure you love.

Don't observe yourself too closely, just let it happen.

Don't let yourself be controlled by too much irony.

Live in and love the activity of your work.

Be free of thoughts of sin, guilt and misgiving.

Be touched by the beautiful anxiety of life.

Be patient with the unresolved in your heart.

Try to be in love with the questions themselves.

Love your solitude and try to sing with its pain.

Be gentle to all of those who stay behind.

Your inner self is worth your entire concentration.

Allow your art to make extraordinary demands on you.

Bear your sadness with greater trust than your joy.

Do not persecute yourself with how things are going.

It's good to be solitary, because solitude is difficult.

It's good to love, because love is difficult.

You are not a prisoner of anything or anyone.

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) was born in Czechoslovakia and died in Switzerland. Dogged by fragile health and the constant search for inexpensive and healthful accommodation, he anxiously moved from one climate to another. Considered the greatest modern poet in the German language, Rilke counselled the young poet, known only as Mr. Kappus, over a five-year period. No evidence exists that they ever met.

Best regards, Robert

PS: "Being an artist means not numbering or counting, but ripening like a tree, which doesn't force its sap, standing confidently in storms, not afraid that summer may not come." (Rainer Maria Rilke)Esoterica: Two main themes--trust and patience--pervade Rilke's letters. "Always trust yourself and your own feelings, as opposed to arguments and discussions," he says. "If it turns out that you are wrong, then the natural growth of your inner life will eventually guide you to other insights. Allow your judgments a silent, undisturbed development, which, like all progress, must come from deep within and cannot be forced or hastened. Everything is gestation and then birthing. To let each impression and each embryo of a feeling come to completion, entirely in itself, in the dark, in the unsayable, the unconscious, beyond the reach of one's own understanding, and with deep humility and patience to wait for the hour when a new clarity is born: this is what it means to live as an artist."

See more writings of the Painters Keys.... http://www.painterskeys.com

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bella~

I'm so glad I visited your blog today. I was moved to check in with you after your comments upon finding me again.

I've heard snippets of Rainer Maria Rilke before, enough to know that he speaks of things my heart really needs to know, but I have never seen in a single place his ideas gathered and so succinctly expressed as they were by your friend, Robert. Thank you for sharing this bit of encouragement, which must have been meant for you personally, with the rest of us who are working to live THROUGH our art, live WITH our art, and simply live.

Lisa Oceandreamer Swifka said...

I needed to read this today dearest Bella, the words are most profound and carry with them truths we all need to pay attention to. Not just in our art worlds but in our general day to day lives. I had not heard of this poet but will now be pursuing more about him and more of his writings. Thank you for sharing this.
XOXO
Lisa

Gypsy Purple said...

Oh how I needed this today!!!!!!
Thanx for posting this and sharing....this gave me so much encouragement to do what I set out to do..but paused just long enough to almost leave it.
Glad I visited