Buckman Page

My friend Buckman Page,

I do appreciate your response to my inquiry regarding the passion and motivation of those who shape and mold what our world has come to label as “art.” Of course it is just as impossible to define such a broad term as it is to list the reasons as to why the creators create.

I do not see such joy that demands expression. I wish that I could. I believe Joy can exist. But I believe the joy you are speaking of is simply the world holding up a sheet to conceal its underlying despair. Shadows are an effect, not something to be used. Shadows are an effect of our mistakes and our habit of covering them up in an effort to pretend like we never made them.

Music is an endangered art form. I would rather have music die out than allow it to be dominated by a world that perpetuates selfishness and injustice. You are right about time. It is too dominant in the realm in which we live. We are forced to move our feet to the beat of time with no thoughts permitted about which direction we move in. Yes, we do fail to see past the shadows. I don't know when or if that will ever change.

Beauty deserves to let her golden hair down whenever she may please, but who will stand by her when she is labeled as being “out of line?” Affection is not only wrongly begged to be considerate, but wrongly begged to be compassionate as well. The “our” whose bodies plead to stand up only represents a small faction of individuals. More and more have I seen people willingly throw away their protests at the slightest hint of oppression. A new age has developed humans that I refer to as “Out-going Isolationism.” There is a longing for a cubicle with four solid walls that includes a cell phone in every drawer for the fastest indirect communication possible. We are no longer moved by the presence of others, but by the illumination of our laptops.

I'm afraid I am in need of more than a few bottles of cheap wine to keep me within a society that embraces the qualities I have just described. I represent the opinions and thoughts of only my person. Let each to his or her own, but I will not be apart of it.

I hope you find exactly what you are searching for. With that, I bid you farewell.

Sincerely,
Steve Six

My dear friend Steve Six,

As to your question about passion and motivation, please understand that so many reasons exist for all of this in my mind that it would be impossible to list every one of them here. But I will do my best to answer your question, hoping sincerely that the outcome will be fairly understood.

Because every inkling of joy demands expression; because shadows are what you make of them; because music exists; because the unfolding of time allows men to convince us that our feet ought to stop moving; because we fail to see past the shadows; because beauty deserves to let her golden hair down; because affection is wrongly begged to be considerate; because tyrants tell us to sit down when every inch of our bodies pleads to stand; because whispers are louder than text messages and songs are louder than cubicles; because standing is greater than bowing; and because we’ve forgotten how to be truly moved by the immediate presence of others!

—For these you can find me on the stage slugging down gulps of cheap wine. You find friends dancing to songs. You find people finally enjoying one another.

Some of these uncontrollable convulsions of explanation arise out of my subconscious… unwilled, yet, admittedly desired. Forgive me; I got carried away! Hoping all is well with you, my friend.

Yours truly,
Buckman Page