History Repeating Itself
And why writing still matters
Recently I picked up a local Galveston newsletter/magazine and, in a story about a featured artist who is a self-described “Content Archivist” and storyteller, I stumbled upon a new ethos.
Sometimes I’ve struggled with reading nonfiction or consuming the works of others and then turning around to create something of my own. Reading history or historical pieces can be…almost more isolating than expanding. Because learning anything fascinating, for me, is accompanied by a deep desire to share it. And there’s not always an outlet to just…divulge everything you learned about the 18th century this week to your acquaintances and loved ones.
Reading about things that are in our distant past but…feel like they could’ve happened yesterday (or are happening on a global stage in real time), can feel…frustrating! How, in all our years of existence on this planet, have we not learned these lessons!? If it’s here, written down in front of me, how this person in 1492 or 1783 or 1891 went through this thing and learned this lesson. How and why are my friends and neighbors still having to go through these things and learn these lessons for themselves!?
Similarly, reading these accounts (whether first-hand or the result of another researcher’s inquiring mind), makes me feel like - “Okay, well, they’ve already said it! Look, it’s right here. What more is there for me to add?”
And then, on a Wednesday, in a cafe - I read a blurb that cracked open my worldview as a creator and writer:
(Juan Lazo) often says, “I wasn’t made to create, I was made to discover.” It is a personal mantra rooted in the belief that there is nothing new under the sun, only new ways of seeing. As author Austin Kleon wrote, “Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.”
With this perspective, I am not restating the obvious or the redundant. I am not trying to “improve on” what has already been done. I am not even saying anything dramatically new or different than what has been said before. I am simply joining the voices of those before me. To elevate the things that are important to me and bring them (potentially) to a new audience. And yes, maybe in the mix, my eyes see something in a new way. My pen uncovers a narrative or detail, that had previously blended into the background.
If you’ve been subscribing since the spring, you know I’ve taken a longer-than-anticipated hiatus. Recently, some of the chaos of the year has begun to settle. My brain and creativity are lighting up again, when I’d almost begun to think the bulbs had dimmed forever.
And so: “In spite of everything, I shall rise again: I will take up my pen(-)…and I will go on with my (writing).”
Follow along as I try to discover and reframe the history of our government, scientific systems, and cultural shifts that impacted both.