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.
Month: September 2024
It matters.
Truth takes longer to admit
than it does to commit.
We now live with truth;
shame of the sins we know,
generations of pain
will forever show.
Truth.
Truth and Reconciliation.
September 30 is an annual federal holiday in Canada to recognize the damage caused by the residential school system, including to families and communities still affected by the lasting trauma.
09/30/2024 j.g.l.
Posted on September 29, 2024 by j.g.lewisLeave a comment
Hidden talents? Perhaps. Maybe you simply have not taken the time to reach deep into your creative self?
There is something there, we all have the capabilities to express ourselves beyond the day-to-day ways that are common to our being. It might not be obvious but is well worth exploring.
We all have something we can do to brighten our outlook or create a greater expression of our self. It might be painting, or dance, or music, or prose. If you don’t try, you will never know.
You will be surprised, if you take a chance.
It is art, and it is available.
Today, why not see what you can do?
I recently watched an inspiring documentary, Not Not Jazz, surrounding the creative process of Medeski, Martin & Wood as they recorded new album material.
The powerful three-piece American ensemble have long been favorites of mine, and the film delved into the improvisational philosophies of the three individual musicians and how the totality of their talents results in one amazing style and sound.
Did I mention inspiring?
09/29/2024 j.g.l.
Posted on September 28, 2024 by j.g.lewisLeave a comment
Each word, brush stroke, and
movement (physical or musical),
conveys a maze of emotions, a
moral or motive,
and
it does so with intention. Art
has a purpose, even in the most
conservative or mundane setting,
it brightens walls, pumps life
into the our superficially sterile
environment,
filling space
often reserved for mediocrity. Art,
any art, is a celebration, an occasion,
a happening or happenstance,
behind which rests a soul
struggling
to release frustration and fact.
The premise of art
is simple,
though in all its complexity
lives are lived and memories retold.
Sometimes the moments are
hardly even bold, but in
each nuance there is blood rushing,
and a voice dying (no, living)
to be heard.
Art, any art,
is an attempt
not to dream, and not to believe,
but to breathe.
Art is a reason for being.
To uncap your mind, and
open your eyes,
is to brush away the cobwebs, and
clear out the channels limiting
society’s authentic ways. To embrace,
or accept,
or even acknowledge effort,
is to allow a word to exist on
a weather-beaten page, an abstract
concept to play out on another plane,
a sound to survive yet another day,
and a dance to be
negotiated through an
inevitably cramped space.
Art, any
art,
is communication
if not
confrontation.
Address your demons, speak up
for those who choose not to,
push back
minds who see investment and value
as only monetary concerns.
Increase your worth. Don’t let art
become just another choice,
shape your work
in the rhythm of a voice.
©2016 j.g. lewis
