There are two kinds of writers. Those who illuminate and those who captivate. Those who illuminate are writers like Arthur Schlesinger Jr., and David Halberstam. Those who captivate are authors like J. K. Rowling and Stephen King.Some writers are so special, they captivate and illuminate at the same time. Indeed, all writing merges to the domain of both. But writers like Mark Twain, Virginia Wolf and Ernest Hemingway do not give us one or the other. They nail both, and that's what makes them so special.
I am a writer. Not one of the greats. But being in the illumination business, I am worth reading, and that is why I write.
Since I wrote the above, I discovered a third kind of writer. How could I have possible ignored those who inspire? I am inspired by poets like Thomas Traherne, who spoke of the importance in delighting in the success of your neighbours as much as in your own and of wanting the best for everyone. In his own words:
"You never enjoy the world aright,
til the sea itself floweth in your veins;
til you are clothed with the heavens
and crowned with the stars
and perceive yourself to be the sole heir
of the whole world."
This is who we are supposed to be. When we are blinded by ignorance, prejudice and a parochial brand of thinking that is so sterile and predictable it is not even our own, we are merely petty.
Find your path. Don't define it.
