Rilke's Wisdom

"Works of art are indeed always products of having been in danger, of having gone to the very end in an experience, to where man can go no further." (Rainer Maria Rilke -- from Letters)
I don't think Rilke meant danger in just the physical sense, but emotionally, spiritually, morally (that's what made Hunter S. Thompson's writing as compelling as his lifestyle was repugnant). In order to produce a real work of art--one that forces a re-examination of the views we hold--the artist (or writer) must either explore new territory, whether that be artistic or emotional or geographical, or forge a new path through familiar territory.
But it's hard not to ask: what if no one follows? Or you get lost? Or the demons you've tried to lose catch up with you? Or the ones you love get left behind?
Rilke once wrote to a struggling poet: "A work of art is good if it has arisen out of necessity. That is the only way one can judge it."
He advised: "Go into yourself and see how deep the place is from which your life flows; at its source you will find the answer to the question whether you must create. Accept that answer, just as it is given to you, without trying to interpret it. Perhaps you will discover that you are called to be an artist. Then take the destiny upon yourself, and bear it, its burden and its greatness, without ever asking what reward might come from outside."
I told my mother a long time ago that I had a book inside me, waiting to be written. In the years since, I've left it on the shelf, untouched. I convinced myself that my book would come from outside me--from my experiences, not from my self. I think it's time I went into myself to see how deep the place is from which my words flow.