Vu de Belgrade [2]

Every one of us, I believe, has a lot of gifts. It is an art to recognize them. At least the most important of them. Unfortunately, nowadays people are pretty much brainwashed, preoccupied with chasing money, positions… The fact is that we live in an age of dominant false values. The value system is upside-down. But even so, that cannot be an excuse for an individual not to search for her or his own values. We simply must do that. It is our obligation to be in the permanent search for our gifts. To know.

On the other hand, it is not and should not be our obligation to accept our gifts. That stands for artistic talent too. The fact that one was born as a poet doesn’t mean that one has necessarily to be a poet. To grow her or his own self as to be devoted to the art. In my opinion, that should stay the matter of personal decision. Of course, to be a poet without a talent is a crime. Maybe I’ve used a harsh word, but that’s the way I see it. And I regret to say that I can see too many writers who do not have any gift, yet they have some other ‘skills’ which help them to become ‘the great national writers.’ And that is something I will never understand, as long as I live. The logic of it, the sense… If one has a talent, or skills, to prosper into society, what is the reason that makes that person not to become a rich banker, let’s say, or to get rich in show business, but she or he insists to be an artist ???

Speaking of gifted people, it has to be ones own decision weather he or she is going to devote her or himself to the art or not. Art requires devotion. It is not so significant if someone sparkles once, twice, like a shooting star. The point is to endure, to make use of all good moments and to overcome the trouble times. The goal is to never stop trying to reach the goal, the same way as Cavafy’s Odysseus see the meaning in the very search for Ithaca.   Somehow, it usually happens that we experience more of the trouble periods, just like sailors, but again, that cannot be an excuse for someone who has decided to devote her or himself to the art. The art is also to go on.

This epoch, at least the way I see it, is not fortunate for art. We live in the age of corporations and their money empires, the dictatorship of entertainment, cheap spectacles for masses… far away from some reincarnation of renaissance that would value, respect and, finally, invest into arts as much as arts deserve. Personally, I call it a dummy period and I hope it won’t last too long. But still – there are great artists (I’m inclined to call poets all of them) in all possible fields of art. The truth is that we have precious contemporaries as well as we can always communicate with great artists from the past, with their work that will always belong to – the present.

My friend, if you are gifted, it is only up to you whether you are going to devote yourself to that gift, the gifts you are given, born with. Don’t do it if you don’t feel enough passion for it! If you feel weak, please don’t even try to cope with art world. It is often a very cruel world, since it depends on society. And society can be rather merciless.  

But if you decided that you were going to endure in your microcosms and enrich this world with your work, don’t you ever give up, please. As the Americans say ‘it pays off.’ As I would say – you will enjoy a real life. Every moment of your existence will turn into a verse. Not necessarily written. The material world is just one dimension of the world. Feel the rain drop, catch the sound of waves, accept the smile of a passer-by, look to your old parents and realize how happy you are they are still alive… feel the nucleus of every moment. That is fulfillment. It is much more than happiness. That is art.