Buried Alive

Buried Alive

As a writer and an artist, I feel as if I never quite arrive, like there is always a next step. It's not that my old work is not satisfactory in and of itself; it is that I am not satisfied with it alone. I am not sure a pièce de résistance actually exists in the mind of a sub-creator, like myself. In fact, I am quite convinced it is and will always be work of fiction for two reasons: 1. "Best work" is subjective, and 2. If it is not my last work, how can I know if it is the best work of my life?

"The One," the greatest work of an artist's lifetime, could not be known to him during his lifetime. He could pour everything he has, heart and soul, into this masterpiece. He could intimately know it and everything about it and savor every emotion he felt while creating it. Yet, he will never have the privilege of acknowledging it as his greatest work. Why? Because in the mind of a crafter, he is not finished until he takes his last breath. 

Some may consider this reality a curse, but, upon reflection, I consider it pure, raw motivation. An artist should be able to draw inspiration from the magnum opera of others, and leave it it to others to eventually draw inspiration from his own. It cultivates humility, a continued awe at the wonders and beauty of life, and a need to keep working. 

We are driven to do what God has placed us on this earth to do until the day we are rendered physically, mentally, and emotionally incapable of doing so—the day we are buried. Artists must continue. They have to. They do not have a choice. No artist can ever say, "Yes! That is the one! I will never need to create again," because it is also to say, "I no longer need to carry out my purpose. There is nowhere else to go, no greater feat to be achieved." Not only would that be a lie told in arrogance, but it would be the bane of one's God-given purpose and turn one’s existence into a meaningless shell of nothingness. 

Death is inevitable, but life is creating. Life is working. Life is doing. Like I said, an artist will not be truly finished until he is dead and buried, but to finish before one is dead is to be buried alive.