Vacations are good for something, of course. We all know that. But they are not good for creativity. At least not while they happen. They are good fodder later, no doubt, when in misery and depression you can recall the images and contemplate them and figure out what they mean. But there is little interesting about somebody else's vacation. I don't know what I was thinking. Well. . . I wasn't. I just kept posting rather than putting up a "Gone Fishing" sign. I should have waited. As a result, I've gotten some nasty emails--not quite hate mail, but akin to it. And I've halved the number of people coming to the site. However, vacation will be over soon and I will go back to the reflective posts rather than the "Here We Are in Paradise" routine.
I'll tell you this; Paradise is a two sided coin. Just drive off the island, and you will find it. Much is interesting there. I will come back sometime this summer just to photograph it. You cannot do that while staying in a luxury suite. But I will go back alone and get a room at the Melody Motel or some equivalent and get up at dawn each morning and go about town documenting "real life." Much is left over from the 1960s, things that will disappear as soon as the economy comes back, for that part of Florida is booming faster than any other. I will go back.
Even Palm Beach as it was is dying. Worth Avenue is "Available." Many stores have closed. Much is "For Rent." The mother's son coined it "Worthless Avenue." It doesn't seem to have the magnitude that I remember. Maybe it was just too hot. Who knows? It is a giant throwback to something that not so many people are nostalgic for, opulence and arrogance.
But I needed the other and found a way to do it and have filled my head with images. I will be back to work soon enough, will toil and contend with ennui and routine. But for now I dream of correcting my life, of having more elegance and charm, of being tall and imperially slim, of drinking Americanos and Negronis and wearing clothing so well made that it is like wearing nothing at all. And how will that come about? Oh, I will work harder and have more drive to succeed, I will make something of myself. . . .
And therein lies the tale. The only money worth having, I guess, is somebody else's.
And so it goes.
I think all writing and the response is worth something. For both reader & writer.
ReplyDeleteDon't you?
You can't expect people not to react -- at least those who follow your daily postings regularly and for them to react with some sort of honesty -- isn't that the best compliment? The connections. The reaction becomes part of the fodder, manure for more writing -- even the effluvium.
I know the "character" in your vacation postings will soon be part of a poem I'm going to write (whenever it arrives).
Hate mail means you've arrived. Doesn't it?
*drops flower on your blogstep*
This is a creepy post. Who is "the woman?" Did you use her?
ReplyDeleteYes vacations make you dream of 'correcting' your life...the hard part is bringing that dream back home and actually realizing. But we can dream, man, can we dream!
ReplyDeleteLovely posts! I'm glad they are here!
You can't always please people. Perhaps it's worthwhile thinking about why you write and photograph. Are your readers your circus ring masters holding out the hoops of their approval for you to jump through?
ReplyDeleteAs for staying in resorts, let's face it, they're all about relaxing oneself into boredom while burning through lots of money.
Sometimes we need to take such breaks and then again, sometimes not.
I went to a wedding at a resort in Kuala Lumpur two years ago. After two days I was going stir crazy as the obsequious staff waited on us, hand and foot, so we (my wife and I) flew up to big, dirty, crazy Bangkok. Much, much more interesting.
Dude, just keep doing what you do.
ReplyDeleteWe'll read, we'll respond and we'll move on to the next thing.
Don't worry be happy :)
D