This world has become so complex and abundant with noise and nonsense. The only way people can survive is with distractions. These distractions; binge watching television or movies, listening to hours of music, reading, going out to bars, pub quizzes, doing anything and everything to forget about everything. Forgetting is the human super power. It is when you cannot forget something that it eats away at you; it destroys you. Forgetting is necessary for survival. Humans live long, happy lives by forgetting all the pain and misery. By forgetting; however, we are doomed to repeat that pain and misery.
People have said there are some experiences you never forget. This is true, but over time these memories are not at the front of your mind. One can recall almost anything they have experienced. It is like a kind of time travel. You go back in time and relive something from the past. You remember a lesson you forgot you learned. You remember an emotion you felt but have not felt for a long time. Emotions are fluid. They come and go, and if you know how, you can control how long they stay. You have the power to forget them or remember them as you see fit.
Artists have the most difficult job. It is their duty to remember. Some of them make the choice not to forget. Others have the inability to forget. They relive the pain and misery and happiness and pleasure to help others remember what has been forgotten. The job of the artist is to make people feel something; anything. It is the emotions we have to remember. Emotions are what makes us human. But we have a super power. Sometimes we forget what it means to be human. We forget our emotions. We forget so we can survive.
I have never understood how everyone else could survive and look happy with their repetitive, mundane life experience. It looks like people only do anything to continue distracting themselves. Someone may not actually care about their support group or volunteering at the animal shelter, but it helps distract them and avoid thinking about their life. It helps them forget. It helps them survive. I have never been able to survive this way. It always feels like these distractions prevent me from doing what I am supposed to be doing. These distractions prevent me from expressing myself because they make me forget myself.
I have tried expressing myself in many different ways. I have tried drawing, photography, music, film; but the only thing that ever lasted was writing. I am a writer. It is how I remember who I am. It is how I survive. When I do not write, I feel lost and broken. My purpose in this world is to make people remember; to make people feel. I am an artist. Maybe I can help distract others while still making them remember and feel something. I do not fit in or blend with the crowd. I never have. Maybe that is my super power.
James Pack 