In 2006 several high school English students were assigned by their teacher, Mrs. Lockwood, to write to a famous author and ask for advice. Below is an excerpt from what was sent by Kurt Vonnegut. I think it is worth taking to heart.
Mr. Vonnegut’s advice
” Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow.
Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives. Draw a funny or nice picture of Ms. Lockwood, and give it to her. Dance home after school, and sing in the shower, and on and on. Make a face in your mashed potatoes. Pretend you’re Count Dracula.
Here’s an assignment for tonight, and I hope Ms. Lockwood will flunk you if you don’t do it: Write a six-line poem, about anything, but rhymed. No fair tennis without a net. Make it as good as you possibly can. But don’t tell anybody what you’re doing. Don’t show it or recite it to anybody, not even your girlfriend or parents or whatever, or Ms. Lockwood. OK?
Tear it up into teeny-weeny pieces, and discard them into widely separated trash receptacles. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned a lot more about what’s inside you, and you have made your soul grow.”
Grow your soul
Mr. Vonnegut encourages all sorts of self-expression, without expecting outside payoffs. “Start right now, and do it for the rest of your lives.” His advice is not only soul-enriching, it sounds like fun. I’m in. How about you?