I got hung up on one very plain and simple idea from the text. "…the idea that art can be a religious activity and that poetry can aim to be as exact as sculpture." I love the comparison between art and religion because as someone who has their foot in both the art world and the religious world, I can see the similarity. In religion we look for answers and guidance. In art we look for a way to express our reactions to these answers and how we are feeling about the guidance (or lack there of) we are given. Maybe he meant art can be a religious activity in a completely different way, but this is what I thought of when I came across it. It made me think deeper about the reasons why I do the art that I do and if it in any way relates to my religious beliefs, and I have found that it does.
Another great piece of advise from Hitchens is his philosophy on writing. I personally like to write poetry and am moving into creative writing, so this especially applied to me. I love to write but I dont always have the time. Sometimes I try to sit down and write because I have nothing else to do and I feel like expressing myself; these are the works that I usually delete. They dont mean anything and I realize that when I go back and read it later. My best work is when I am in tears and bursting with emotion. I find that I have a NEED to write at those moments. If I dont write when I need to, I feel bottled up and ready to explode. When I read this in the book, I related completely to every single word. Hitchens advise for writing is to, "Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write. This most of all; ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write?"
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