Mentors

Yesterday I got very inspired by drinking a big cup of coffee and listening to a Fresh Air interview with one of my heroes, Tom Waits. All these ideas were spinning around in my head. I like a lot of artists--of all mediums--but only a few of them get my heart & mind turning cartwheels. Tom Waits is one of them. He is one of the best songwriters--writers--we'll ever have the pleasure of experiencing in this weary world. I loved hearing what he liked about songs: "I've always loved beautiful melodies that told me terrible things." I was so inspired, I decided to go with it, and write all the things down that were coming to me.

All this got me thinking of artistic mentors. Natalie Goldberg believes that the writers that we love most, that we pour over, are also our mentors. SARK calls them Creative Companions. They are the artists that nudge us along, that light a little fire under our sleeping hearts. I have gone through phases of carrying specific artists with me. The real deep ones come with us as we walk out the door.

It made me think about what specifically certain "mentors" have given me. I thought about Sylvia Plath, who has travelled with me since I was 17. She taught me that life is to be described, and everything is utterly useful. Every experience is a picture to be written down and felt. She also taught me that you are your own history to be culled and explored. You are your own mythology. Despite her suicide, and therefor her reputation of depressive poetry, her very real zest for life is just as commanding, if not more, in her journals. They have urged me on for 15 years.

I could name others: Lynda Barry, Bruce Springsteen, Liz Phair, Herge, Harper Lee...each one has given me a little creative money to make my way in the world with. Each one continues, at different times, to give me answers or a new way out.

These are some of the things I wrote down after the Tom Waits interview:

drink coffee & write about it-- eat ham& eggs & orange juice. Look out on the streets and watch storm clouds. Smoke cigarettes. Or just pretend. With red lipstick. You are your own best character. Be a character in a sideways hat.

It might not makes any sense to you, but it sure showed me something. Think of your mentors, your creative companions. Think about why they matter so much to you, and then you'll see how they have often been with you, their hats hanging on a hook by your door.