I have a love for storytelling and performance, both. I love
film and theater, I love going to galleries, I love talking about all of these
topics and how they intermingle.
I have been living the question, “Does ‘resolution’ have to be a part of the process for the artist as well as the audience?”
I thought to a time when I was teaching Sunday School and a very brave creator of children’s curriculum chose not to tie up the video for the lesson with a big red bow. Some of the children spoke dissatisfaction with that choice. They want and expect the resolution. They want to know the “what happened” perhaps so they know how to move forward in their own lives.
Last Fall I told a story that put me in a very vulnerable position. I had never told this particular story of my life and I was so afraid to tell it. I felt as if I was opening my gut and allowing all that bloody, stinky mess fall out onto the stage floor. I didn’t end my story with a big, red bow, I ended my story with a question. “Was that what I think it might be?” was the basic gist of the final line I spoke.
I remember the words of Adelaide Crapsey when she said, “Artists give us not conclusions but evidence.”
Artists may leave breadcrumbs along the path, but they won’t open the door to the cottage. You, the audience member, are charged with opening the door.
Excuse me, what I meant to tell you is, you are privileged to open the door.
Go ahead, open the door.
What will stretch you more, resolution or evidence?
Which will challenge you more, evidence or resolution?
If you feel stuck, write your responses to those questions, stream of consciousness style. Then tuck those two questions in the back of your mind, go about your business, and tomorrow morning write your responses to those questions again without thinking or judging or even thinking.
Let your pencil (pen, fingers on the keyboard) lead you.
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© 2013 by Julie Jordan Scott
This is my twenty-eighth post (of 31!) for the January Ultimate Blog Challenge. Watch here for challenge posts which will include Writing Prompts, Writing Tips and General Life Tips and Essays.
