Writing - Dangerous?

[shadowkat]

Gloomy day here in NYC. And cold. Or cool rather.
Have a sinus headache that won't go away and a zit the size of a mountain beneath or rather next to my right nostril that is annoying me. Tried
every brand of acne medication to get rid of the thing. Honestly, once
you pass thirty, you'd think your hormones would get the hint?



Awhile back someone mentioned how livejournal felt dangerous at times. It
got me to thinking about writing and how I view it. I don't see it as safe - at least not when you share it with others. It's only safe when it sits undisturbed on your hard drive or boxed up in a locked notebook. Once you allow someone else to see it? Not safe. You've exposed yourself to all sorts of criticisms - everything from grammatical to well subjective opinions. Let's face it, no matter what you do, someone out there is going to hate what you say. Find it offensive. You can either stay silent or keep writing. But
then relationships and communication aren't safe either - for the same reasons.
At least honest open relationships aren't. Last weekend I saw Jennifer Lopez interviewed on Inside The Actors Studio, nothing noteworthy to mention except for one comment. She told the students gathered there, that to her, acting, writing, music was at its best when it wasn't safe. When she was exposing herself. When it was real. She said, when you protected yourself, hid, told lies, weren't honest - it showed.

My own writing varies - between a high-wire trapeze act and a safe parlour trick. My best essays on BTVS were, I think, the gutsy ones, the unsafe ones.
Remember that one on Sadomaschism? I got torn to ribbons by a few folks on that deal. Or the Authority essay? And I think some of my best posts online were ones that elicited responses that ripped me open and made me bleed. Don't misunderstand me, I despise conflict. Makes me physically ill. It's one of the many reasons I am not a litigation attorney. I avoid it all costs. But in my writing, I want to provoke. I want to break boundaries. Risk new things. Show someone another point of view, another path. Because as a child - I adored the books that took me inside points of view that differed from my own. It's what always intrigued me about books, the ability to lose yourself inside someone else's head, someone else's thoughts, a world that you would not have come up with. I fell in love with the idea that I could see through someone else's eyes, by reading their words or seeing them. Something I ached to do as well, to pull someone into my head and understand what I felt and saw through my words. They didn't have to agree with me. But just for a moment, to connect, to understand - how I saw it. For a moment to flip their world upside down, then back again, see it in a completely different way - that would be a wonderful accomplishment. It probably won't change their world-view, but it might change how they looked or appreciated mine or someone elses. The best we can do after all is to try and understand one another, right? And that isn't easy or safe, unless it's someone who sees things exactly the same way you do to begin with.

I find the art works I enjoy the most, whether they be television, novels, movies, or music - usually do the same thing. Oh that's not to say I don't love the safe ones, the comforting ones...but the one's I remember are the ones that weren't safe. The ones that turned my world upside down. Challenged my views on things. Made me rethink an idea or thought. The trick is finding them. But once I do, they are golden.

Comments

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

I notice it mostly happens when I'm careless about skin care. If I touch my face when my hands aren't clean, etc. But then, I've always had pretty good skin (no big acne problems). The difficulty is that now that I'm older, the kind of skin-drying remedies and preventatives for zits make my skin *too* dry. And if I slop on a lot of skin lotion, I can make it more likely I'll break out.

*sigh*