So my last post was 273 days ago. That’s right. It hasn’t even been a year and I’m back again, now that is what I call consistency. Ohh what’s that? You are genuinely interested in why my extremely fun and adventurous life held me back from doing this backbreaking labor of mine where I type a few hundred words every year and click publish? I mean…if you put it like that then, here’s a draw my life which I commissioned an up and coming artist to make for me:
Yup. That’s pretty much it. Why didn’t I publish if I had so much free time? Mainly because I didn’t read much this past year. That’s really the only reason. I have been reading a pretty good series recently though, it’s called The Mage Errant Series. I probably won’t be posting a review on it though because it’s very similar to a lot of the books I have reviewed before (this & that). But that’s for the future, as of now, let’s get into the new post.
The idea for this one has been unlike most of my past posts. My “artistic process” for most of my non-book-review posts is: I think of something I want to talk about and pen down my thoughts on it, add an intro, a conclusion and sprinkle some bad jokes in between. However, the idea of a “blank space” has been on my mind for quite some time now. I have even gone as far as to start editing a video for this. Like most of my projects though, that one remained unfinished as well. But this past week I have been reading some of my old posts, and for the lack of a better term – WOW. I understand how narcissistic this makes me sound like but forget being humble for a second, some of my post-lock down blogs have been downright hilarious. Like most people, when I think of 16 year old me I think “Eww I hope he doesn’t catch me staring” but I need to accept the fact that – that kid is so much funnier than me.
Minus all the self-glazing though, I am pretty rusty with writing now having not written much in the past year. But the idea of writing – or any sort of creation for that matter is something I am intimately familiar with.
What is a blank space? A white canvas to a painter, a piece of paper and a few chords for a songwriter, an empty word document for an author, or even a `#include <stdio.h>` for a programmer. A blank space is what Leonardo da Vinci started with before turning it into the Mona Lisa. It’s what J.K. Rowling turned into Harry Potter and it’s what Taylor Swift wrote on while making “Blank Space”, ironically. And while I do not have a blank space, baby, and I won’t write your name, what I do have, is an appreciation for how this medium, this blank space, can turn any idea into actual art.
But is the blank space really that much of an opportunity, or does it have its downfalls? I for one have been a victim of staring at an empty page, each blink of the cursor reminding me of the assignment deadline. I have felt the pressure of this incomplete work during my old “5 posts in 5 days” stint. What is it then, should you embrace the blank space? Should you be scared of it? I honestly don’t know. I have had my moments of doing both, and this post itself is my shot at testing the waters. The truth is every long break puts fear into my mind – can I still do it? Can I still write a good blog? Every time I see those numbers ticking down from thousands to tens when I don’t post increases my fear of the blank space and every time I read my old posts, it reminds me, it reminds me of why I do this. Showing the future me, who he was a few years ago. It’s just been 6 years since I started the blog but the difference in me then vs now is radical. So yeah, maybe embracing the beauty of the blank space lies in filling it. Eliminating it with your work, your art.
Or maybe just boot up YouTube and watch some Family Guy Funny Moments Clips. Maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about. Stop expecting good advice from a 19 year old.
Well that’s pretty much the gist of what I wanted to talk about on this topic. I do have summer break for the next month or so, hopefully I post a bit more, or maybe you don’t care. That’s an option too. Cheerio!!
