A couple of things came to mind today. Firstly, we have experienced the eclipse. The event of the moon overtaking the sun was glorious! The blackness moving in was magnificent. The moon is so much smaller than the sun but so much power! The first thing that happened, the temperature dropped down by at least 10 degrees. Then the light became shimmering orange. But the most miraculous of all were the shadows in the aftermath. It was like the disco-ball went crazy over the earth! That was incredible! Unreal and certainly unearthly. Just trying to remember it gives me the goosebumps.
Secondly, I am re-reading William Gibson. I started with Mona Lisa Overdrive. It never gets old. The guy who coined “cyberspace” is an incredible storyteller. His characters and the tech merge beautifully, and the narrative keeps you floating between the pages. I would not say exactly dystopian but definitely with dystopian elements like the Sprawl, interwoven. If I remember correctly, Gibson just decided to be a writer one day and started writing from that point on. There is another writer with the similar decision, another favorite of mine Haruki Murakami. I don’t think either of them had a formal education as writers. Maybe that’s why both are so imaginative. Maybe it is precisely the lack of the official literature degree is what allows for imagining what is unimaginable to others. Raymond Carver also comes to mind. Although he took writing classes, he never finished a degree. Now, I am not anti-higher ed. It’s what pays my bills at the moment, but I have to say I am pretty disillusioned with templated education which runs more like a business than an institution that means to inspire. (I am generalizing, of course). In any case, from personal experience education does tend to stifle creativity. It is a wonder why I am still in school.
