What shows
how little
we know?
What can be is
oft far less than
what we expect.
What is now
has never been
what it was.
07/25/2024 j.g.l.
value beyond
Simplicity.
Is there emotion in austerity?
Humanity?
What do you see when attempting
to define your limited visibility?
Minimalism, abstract impressionism
or incorporeal thought.
Less is more, but is it enough?
Texture, tone, and value beyond
your current scene. If you take it to an
extreme, you will question
what it means.
What is really there?
What line do you cross?
Can simplicity be complicated, or
should it even be attempted?
07/23/2024 j.g.l.
Mondays are just young Fridays
Things will not go as planned. Intentions will be disrupted, even overlooked, in the aftermath of an unexpected reality.
Where you are headed will not be the place you end up, undoubtedly or undeniably. No matter how hard you attempt to make each gesture, brushstroke, promise, prayer, or pastime as perfect as you believe it can be, many times you will not arrive at a perceived destination. All too often your endeavors never hit the mark; at times your work may be better than expected (celebrate those moments), but everything (even your judgement) is subjective.
You are not limited to, or by, the colours in your paintbox or progression of your process.
Imagination is as limited or expansive as you want it to be. Give it time to blossom; in certain instances, you may even have to reel it in. This is all about possibilities, no matter which media, method, or style you are beholden to.
You owe your art (or life) nothing but your presence; the value comes from the practice, as rudimentary or spontaneous as it is or will become.
07/22/2024 j.g.l.
I'm like a pencil;
sometimes sharp,
most days
well-rounded,
other times
dull or
occasionally
broken.
Still I write.
j.g. lewis
is a writer/photographer in Toronto.
Mondays are just young Fridays
Posted on October 30, 2023 by j.g.lewis
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Sometimes your daily horoscope is enough to inspire you to go a little further or dig a little deeper.
I’ve been trying these past months to solidify a project I have been working on for far too long. Unrelated consequences have held me back, in fact stopped me in my tracks, but over these past weeks (well more than a month) I made a habit of trying to get back into a habit that had served me well in the past.
We all have personal approaches to whatever we do (and what we want to do), so the how and why I began, again, to try is consequential only to myself. But I have to say that, creatively, it went well past writing every damn day.
Many days have been spent writing or rewriting and tidying up this project. I’ve also spent a lot of time with my journal and some of those thoughts have ended up on this website as my daily breath.
I’ve been working my way out of a depression.
This world is in such a catastrophic state and the continual news feed will only depress you further. It alters how you function as a human being.
I feel it.
I guess that’s one of the reasons I have valued the practice (or habit) I had been falling away from for longer than I wanted (or realized).
Writing out my thoughts, either constructively or creativity (there is a difference), provides a way to deal with my intentions. Sadly, if you let it, it can also provide an undue number of expectations.
Finding the balance on the page, or in life in general, is often difficult.
Sometimes you must look at anything you write down as an achievement, especially at a time I wasn’t feeling like I had achieved anything.
I was reminded of my predicament this morning as I sat with my coffee and laptop at Starbucks and clicked on my horoscope.
These past few months I’ve been dealing with a lot of personal shit that has seemed to hold me up from doing what I wanted or needed to do.
I’ve had expectations I’ve been trying to live up to and, in not being able to do so, I have felt a sense of failure.
I know I need to do more, and each day I’ve been trying. In doing so I haven’t allowed myself to think positively about what I have accomplished.
Many of those accomplishments are small but, when I run them all together and look at the big picture, I’ve realized I have accomplished something.
It took this morning’s horoscope to remind me that things might not be as difficult as I had thought.
10/30/2023 j.g.l.
