Guy Tal | Photographer, Author
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I am amazed that some people can be so lacking in anxiety as to imagine that they have grasped the truth of their art on the first try. —Henri Matisse In his 1844 work, The Concept of Anxiety, Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard wrote, “anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.” (In some translations, the word “dread”... Continue Reading →
Many thanks for those who joined us and for the excellent question! If you've missed our live session, you may watch the recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OjJK7oXbUk I invite you to join fellow writer and photographer Colleen Miniuk and me for a FREE special live author talk on Thursday, June 18th at 5PM Mountain Time (7PM... Continue Reading →
What I see in Nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of 'humility.' This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism. —Albert Einstein All forms of language are by nature ambiguous. This is because languages... Continue Reading →
Announcements: My new e-book, Future Hindsights, will be available for purchase from my website on Friday, May 15th. I will post an announcement and link on this blog when I release it. If you wish to receive the announcement and my regular blog articles via email, please subscribe here. If you wish to purchase autographed copies... Continue Reading →
What is a poet? An unhappy man who in his heart harbors a deep anguish, but whose lips are so fashioned that the moans and cries which pass over them are transformed into ravishing music. ... And men crowd about the poet and say to him, “Sing for us soon again”—which is as much as... Continue Reading →
Without music, life would be a mistake. —Friedrich Nietzsche Previous installments in this series: Amor Fati—Part I: Introduction Amor Fati—Part II: Vastness Amor Fati—Part III: Acceptance and Rebellion In his poem, The Peace of Wild Things, Wendell Berry confessed, “When despair for the world grows in me […] I come into the peace of wild... Continue Reading →
Don’t ask, “Is my attitude toward life the right one?”—to that question there is no answer. Every attitude is as right as every other, all are a part of life. Ask instead, “Since I am as I am, since I have these particular needs and problems which seem to be spared so many others, what... Continue Reading →
It is in vain that we can predict and control the course of events in the future, unless we know how to live in the present. —Alan Watts It is perfectly true, as the philosophers say, that life must be understood backwards. But they forget the other proposition, that it must be lived forwards.... Continue Reading →
A new year starts today. Happy New Year! As I have in past years, I think it’s also worth noting that another year will start tomorrow, too. One also started yesterday. In fact, countless new years have started just now, during the seconds it took you to read this sentence. May they all be beautiful,... Continue Reading →
It seems to me that the most damaging restrictions on an artist’s liberty are self-imposed. So often, what may have begun as fresh thinking and discovery is turned into a routine and reduced to mere habit. Habits in thinking or technique are always stultifying in the long run. They are also contagious, and when a... Continue Reading →