The Why

As a fan of science fiction books and movies, I often look to some memorable quotes to choose that which illustrates the chapters I write as sort of a preview of what you can expect.  It started as a nice way to begin a chapter and is currently something that I spend far too much time looking for both online and in books.

That being said, I came across a few questions that are often asked of writers and other creative folk who spend much of their time slaving away at their craft.  The most prominent is “The Why” of it.  Why do we do it?  In the second Matrix movie, the bad guy with the french fetish…  Okay, he was called the Merovingian and he asked the same thing of our heroes in the movie.  The question isn’t answered, but that is because the answer is obvious.  “Why are you here?”  He asked, then interrupts their response, explaining his philosophy about power and purpose.  “Our only peace is to understand it, to understand the why.  Why is what separates us from them, you from me.  Why is the only real source of power, without it you are powerless. And this is how you come to me: without why, without power…”  Well, you get the idea.

My answer is simply this:

We are writers, artists and creators of one sort or another because that is what makes our life meaningful.  We create a masterpiece because when we are in that blissful state of mind where all the pointless worries of life have faded into oblivion and all that remains is the tale or the brush or the tool in hour hands, we find purpose.  It is not a drug and it isn’t some guilty pleasure.  It is raw emotion and a sense that the true meaning of life lies within.  Some of us experience this often and others seek it like a photographer shooting frame after frame of an amazing sunset, feeling the world aligning for that amazing moment when capturing the majestic becomes possible.

I started writing seriously at the age of forty and have not regretted a moment of it since.  I have come a long way in my craft and will go further as time goes by.  Each time I find myself in that moment and I capture a bit of happiness, I hope that someday, someone will read my works and take with them a bit of that happiness for themselves.