just a thought.

This post won't include any art, specifically. I've just been thinking a lot about a certain topic, and the thought won't leave me alone. And I figure if I write about it, I'll be able to wrap my head around the concept a little more. Just a warning, this is going to be a bit long-winded.

For as long as I can remember, I've been obsessed with characters and stories and themes. When I was little this manifested itself in the form watching and re-watching certain cartoons and movies and reading and re-reading lots and lots of children's books. (I'm pretty sure Disney's The Lion King directly influenced my ridiculous love for animals.) I spent almost all of my free time writing little stories and "illustrating" them, or drawing and creating characters, complete with names, designs, personalities and backgrounds. If I wasn't physically creating things like this, I would be daydreaming about them or analyzing the books, movies and cartoons that I loved. (Yes. I was analyzing the underlying themes of Disney movies and relationships between the characters on Hey Arnold in elementary school... I've always been a little mature for my age.) Also, the day I discovered there was such a thing as fanfiction was probably one of the happiest moments of my life up to that point.

Somewhere between elementary school and high school I realized that there were two things I really, truly cared about and wanted to be a big part of my life forever: animals and art. The first one was accomplished easily; I went to an agricultural high school for animal science and now work at an animal hospital. And if I ever leave that job, all I have to do is share my living quarters with some pets and I can check that one off the list. But art....is a little more of a challenge, and this is why: I consider "art" so be an extremely broad topic. Pretty much anything that can be "created" is art to me. So this includes drawings, paintings, clothing, sculpture, music, films, books...the list goes on and on.

There are a lot of different types of art that I enjoy. I'm going to apply a commonly used term here...there are a lot of different "pieces" of art that I enjoy. I look at a lot of drawings and 2-d illustrations, read of lot of books, listen to a lot of music, etc. But there are always certain ones that hit me with what I've dubbed the "Holy Shit Moment." The Holy Shit Moment describes the feeling I get when I've experienced something artsy and suddenly realize that I've transcended simply enjoying it, and I feel completely and utterly moved mentally and emotionally by it. Where I feel like it has changed something within me, and I'm never going to be the same person I was prior. Something that instills in me so much thought that I feel like my mind is going to explode with it all. There are a lot of things that have given me Holy Shit Moments: novels (for example, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon, the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee) films (Donnie Darko, The Sandlot) comics (Full Metal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa, Bleach by Tite Kubo) and television series (Cowboy Bebop, Psych.)

The thing that I've come to realize is that everything that has ever given me a Holy Shit Moment has been a story. Even the songs and albums that send me over the edge tell a great story through music. A single image isn't enough to do that to me.

Will I enjoy being an animal caretaker? Yes, I already do. Will I enjoy being an illustrator (if i make it that far)? I think so. But one thing I've always told myself is that I just want to be happy in life. And for me to be truly happy, I think I have to become a storyteller. I think I have to create a story that's going to give someone (and myself) a Holy Shit Moment. Whether I do this in the form of a novel, a children's book, a comic or a movie script, I have no idea. But I have an inkling I'm not going to feel content until I create it.

So, to summarize today's revelation: I need to create a story, and therefore I need to practice writing. Because the quote "A picture is worth a thousand words" is a load of crap.

the decemberists - we both go down together.