Since I retired last May, I have played with a form of poetry Mesostics introduced to me in the work of John Cage. My poetic efforts have been using the term Structure on most days. Several Mesostics arising on many days. Why the obsession with Structure? Many recently retired people I spoke with before I retired told me this was the most difficult part of retirement for them. How to structure their day. A part of me was not overly concerned as I have certain practices, pursuits, and activities in place not dependent on my professional life. Actually they inform and guide my life; the profession was to pay the bills. Still in leading up to retirement I thought about how I would structure my days when the confines of business life were no more. Now I have experimented and continue to develop and explore this structure of refining my life.
Isn't structure a type of cage? Delineated boundaries; keeping one focused within a certain area for whatever the reasons - music, life, art, business, and on and on. What's happening at the edge of the cage? What happens within the limited view I have from within the cage? What happens to the caged?
My habits form a cage. My thinking. My knowledge and perhaps more importantly my lack of knowledge. How will I approach understanding my cage? That of another? Why does the notion of being caged put me off balance?
Time for a walk.
Photo by Paul's Lab.
Interesting, I've read that a lot of artists say that they need constraints (ie structure) to be creative. I'm working on my mine--basically if I get into the studio I'm there until dinner. I guess that's structure of a sort...
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