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I’ve recently come upon a couple of different blogs that really caught my eye. I know there are infinite websites out there, some of them featuring the work of truly great writers, and photographers, and thinkers and so on, but I’ve always found it a bit overwhelming. Where to start? For every interesting poetry blog, for example, there must be another five that I don’t even know about that are even better. And who’s got the time?

The first I found was Luchair: ”the gleam of light on water.” This is a blog from Scotland that features photography, literature, and more. The “sources and resources” is of the best required-reading lists I’ve ever seen: thoughtful, well-rounded, spiritual and ecological books, and more. A lot of things I’d like to read. (I’m becoming increasingly fascinated by the idea of reading lists, like those assigned by professors for their classes - but not necessarily involving any professor or class at all.) I tried to leave a comment here, but for some reason it wasn’t allowing me to – which prompted me to write this instead. Anyway, the posting in particular that caught my attention was from November 5, The True and the Sacred. This is a rambling, almost stream-of-consciousness monologue that ends with an excellent paragraph on the freedoms and responsibilities of the writer.

The second blog I read that I wanted to comment on is called Letters From the City. The post that really hit me is from September of last year: Something Like an Artist Statement, in which the Korean-American writer explores his own cultural background, and how that might relate to current events in America. Among other things. It is about interconnectedness: the idea that there is no such thing as an innocent bystander. It is also about the creative process. That journey (which is such a cliche, I know.) He describes his own personal struggles, and the steps he’s taking towards writing his own book. But it’s the actual process of exploring and developing some of these ideas that he is talking about here - all these many evolving, overlapping, dynamic elements of a person’s life: country of origin, family history, childhood, memories - this creative process is for all of us. If we choose. If we can.

. . . Without knowing them, or even knowing anything about them, really, I’d like to thank the writers of both of these blogs. Who knows where inspiration might be lurking?