Mythos & Marginalia

life notes; flaws and all

  • art of creativity

    I will work in the present, honing skills into craft, accepting where I am while envisioning where I would like to surface. Progress, of course, a destination; it is the action of, or sense of, doing that which will allow me to create a modicum of personal satisfaction.

    I am guided by both curiosity and resiliency. Art, my art, may currently be only a reference point on this creative path. Don’t we all have varied mediums and methods that have ushered us through our artistic lives? Even amateurish attempts of our youth — crayon renderings or finger paintings, irregularly shaped pottery vessels, pastel smudges — have contributed to our most immediate desire to create.

    As artists, the style never mattered as much as the will to fashion something with our hands from our imagination. Today, this modus operandi holds true no matter how sophisticated our attempt. The results now, perhaps polished or near perfect, remain maddening in an unfulfilled promise. Should it not be better? Don’t we want to do more? Could our efforts not be deeper, more meaningful?

    The inevitable and everbearing drive for excellence.

    It is so.

    The words of my first photography teacher still hang in my head: ‘You are only as good as your last shot’. Humiliating as it is; humbling, yet ever inspiring.

    Inspiration: it is what keeps us going, learning, and trying. Striving. For should our art become patently perfect, we know we may well lose that continued urge to create.

    © 2026 j.g. lewis

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  • weather or not

    I am so done with winter.

    Yesterday’s snowfall only deepened my contempt for this climate and the particular place I am at this stage of my life.

    It is still March.

    The month of March is one of both indecision and uncertainty. Forget all that ‘in like a lion, out like a lamb’ crap (or the reverse); it’s folklore, at best. This entire month of March continues to creep on sloth-like.

    I have lost my motivation. I slept in this morning. Seasonal depression hovers like consistent cloud-cover.

    Spring, calendrically, is only a few days away. Even then we’ve got to wait until April, at least, for spring showers to wash away all the debris and desolation of this past winter.

    I’m feeling it now.

    It never used to be this way.

    It’s funny how I never remember the cold of winter from my youth. For years, I could not wait for snow to arrive. I could not wait to get out on the ski slopes.

    I, now, simply can’t get nostalgic about frostbite, long johns, or new skis.

    The most exciting thing about this past winter was buying snow tires. Really.

    Does my age have anything to do with my lack of appreciation for winter or is it only the weather?

    Whether it is, or weather or not, this winter becoming a memory cannot happen soon enough.

    © 2026 j.g. lewis

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  • Mondays are just young Fridays

    It is not always stating the obvious; to do so, at certain times, comes across as conceit. Yet, especially in trying times, it is necessary.

    I love me. Three words; including the big one, a word you mostly reserve for others: love.

    Self-love: to appreciate oneself, one’s worth or value, is an important part of being human. It is not always easy for, at times, we do not always feel the way we should. Not always do we hold ourselves in the highest regard, or personal happiness and well-being is not always top of mind. Sadly.

    I know I suffer from periods of doubt, or indifference.

    Pride and vanity can each get confusing. Ego will allow only so much; the id is not always present. And yes, narcissism, is to be avoided at all costs.

    It comes back to value.

    Take some time to recognize what you can most offer yourself. Balance those feelings or thoughts with what you can offer to others. Humanity needs people who care, who feel, and are best able to deal with all this uncertainty.

    First, be certain of yourself. Then show that love. 

    It is necessary, especially in these trying times.

    © 2026 j.g. lewis

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  • consistently

                                     resilient

            time moves neither fast nor slow

                           steady    always

         it is emotions that rush on

                      hold us back

            consistently                unexpectedly

                    giving us space      or

                       taking it away

              it is how it feels

                         how we feel    and

               how we deal with our time

                        we are resilient

                   and that can hold us back

    © 2026 j.g. lewis

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  • it takes understanding

    Do you speak your truth, unapologeticaly or otherwise?
      Often the words you use in response to something that was said or something that you read. 
      You react. 
      Perhaps you felt wronged, or disrespected, or ignored, and the words just come out.
      Feelings and emotions can, at times, be difficult to express in a written form. Other times it is easy, and there is a direct connection between your mind and your fingers, and you type out, or tap out, exactly what you mean. 
      Brutal honesty.
      Maybe you don’t think about it (or you aren’t thinking), but when the words appear they seem like they were intended to hurt. 
      Perhaps there was no time? Or you didn’t take the time to temper your thoughts, because that takes time, and your outright reaction took over common courtesies. 
      It was time you didn’t have, and that cannot be an excuse, because you were more concerned over expressing how you felt rather than feelings of someone else.
      I’m guilty of this, I admit. Not often (I don’t think) because most of the time I allow myself a moment or two to consider the impact of my words, or my actions, or even my intentions.
      Emotions do, however, get in the way, and I try to live or write with my emotions every single day. If you don’t write with emotion, words are simply words.
      Honesty is always the answer, but the truth can hurt.
      Valid or not, an expression of anger or distaste will be, or can be, interpreted by someone else in ways you cannot always decipher. We cannot usually know how someone else will feel. We don’t always remember what was said before or how another person will deal with your words, or your thoughts.
      Sometimes it takes another person to point this out, and while your reaction, at first, is one of anger or insignificance, it does more than prove the point.
      We all need to think a little more about the words we use with someone else. It takes understanding, and patience, even in the moment. In this digital age, communication can be instant, yes, but taking that little bit of time to consider the feelings of others can go a long way.
      You can only hope an apology will be accepted as directly, and as truthfully, as your original response.

    © 2018 j.g. lewis

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