Issue 20: Edges of the world

Dearest reader,

I trust this letter finds you as it leaves me, in good health. Somebody very close to me recently asked how I respond to the question: “Are you an artist?” The person asking the question, herself, is someone I consider to be an unshaking embodiment of the word. She had been asked the question multiple times in the days preceding and did not know how to answer. Perhaps the fact that I’ve never—for as far as I can remember—been witness to any kind of haughty desire on her part to be associated with the label amplifies my conviction in her possession of the syndrome.

It's a funny word, this one.

The most profound interrogation I’ve ever come across to do with the question of the artist's identity is one by the great James Baldwin. (Ironically, if my memory serves me correctly—the guest serving as muse for today's letter is the same guest who first introduced me to this great American writer.) It's a piece I’ve revisited countless times since I first came across it some years ago. It’s titled The Artist’s Struggle for Integrity.

It’s unclear to me which came first—the speech or the essay. All I know is that in any form it takes, and whenever I happen to be on its receiving end, it has the effect of expanding the entire sky and of rattling the ground beneath me. A slumbering spirit inside me is awakened, dead leaves are carried away, a flame rekindles, a new storm is born.

I’ve been able to find a full-length recording on SoundCloud here, YouTube here, and the same audio exists in fragments on Spotify here. If any of you have come across this piece before, I’m very curious to hear any musings you might have related to it. If not, I highly recommend giving it some of your time and attention.

And to the person who asked the question which motivated the topic of today's letter—you have more to offer the world than you imagine. Follow your heart and we'll all be better for it.

Love,
Reef