Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Connections

I've been watching documentaries again, this time it was Cave of Forgotten Dreams. This interesting documentary by Werner Herzog is about the relatively recently discovered Chauvet Cave in southern France that contains some of the oldest human-painted images ever discovered. These rock paintings were created approximately 32,000 years ago. It was a good documentary and considering the subject matter it was actually riveting; I recommend it.

Why do I bring this up now? How is this relevant to our discussions on "Why"? In all our conversations we have never mentioned legacy or more specifically immortality. One day we will all become dust or random particles. Depending on your beliefs you may return as another life form, you will pass on to another plane of existence or simply stop existing. What ever your beliefs, our time on earth is short and mostly inconsequential.

For me the desire to create has many different facets. I am driven by my inner voice to create much the same way my ancestors were driven to create their rock paintings. I want to use my art to connect with other people. This can be as simple as a brief interaction on IG or an in person meeting that has turned into a friendship. I am also arrogant enough to want to leave my mark on this earth; sort of like my initials carved into a tree or a painting in a cave.

As my husband is fond of pointing out, I have met all my current friends through the internet. (Ok, maybe not quite all, I think there are one or two that I actually met in person through some long lost job or my kids school.) But by and large, the majority are people I have collected in my social media journey. They are a large and diverse group and they are all precious to me. This is what drives me.

So I will keep creating, I will keep reaching out to meet new people and I will keep trying to make my mark on this complicated world we live in.

If you ever want to know my answer to the question "Why?" it is all over this blog, it is in everything I write and in every image I create. I want to connect with as many people as possible before I sink back into the dust.

~ xxsjc

If you are curious about the concept of Immortality I highly recommend a book of the same name by Milan Kundera. An excellent read for the artist and non-artist alike.

If dinosaurs died out 65Million years ago and the oldest human fossil is 4Million years old and those cave paintings mentioned above are from 32,000 years ago, no wonder I feel like a short timer. 



3 comments:

  1. When I first started commenting on blogs and meeting people that way (and in my case it was political blogs), my teenage daughter was outraged by the idea that I'd get together with someone I'd met "on the Internet." After all, we spend a lot of time telling our kids not to run off with people they've met that way, but as adults we've found friends and in some cases life partners from relationships that began online.

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    1. Lyn you make a good point; it is very ironic we tell our kids to do what we say, not what we do. I am not sure where I would be without the amazing communities I have created around music, video and photography - all through social media. In this fractured world we live in I am not sure how I would have found them otherwise. :-)

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    2. Aye, so true and I am completely with the two of you that the internet of people is just a part of our daily lives.

      While blogging, emailing and good old bulletin boards are maybe not the tools of the next generation as they like snapshat, hangouts and webcasts much more, communication with people is happening on the internet.

      While in the olden days we met new people on Sunday after church or on Friday evening in the local pub, today the world is flat and we are interconnected with friends around the globe.

      I have never met both of you in real life over a cup of coffee or a glass of red, yet I feel we would be chatting for hours as old friends when we would meet in person one day.

      Now, our younger Me2 crew members are online, chatting to strangers and connecting with the brave new world, and I believe we should help them and guide them so they can take this interconnected world to the next level of the game called live.

      Just a my 2bb

      Me2

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