In the last several years I've become aware that my writing's taken a darker tone. This isn't something I've done consciously. As a writer (or at least as one who does the kind of writing I'm interested in) one can only work with what comes from the spirit. There's simply no point otherwise, because nothing else can illuminate the things that matter.
If then one stays true to the spirit, their work inevitably reflects the times and conditions of their life, and these are dark times for me personally, and for America as a whole.
Yet I don't believe it follows that such writing is negative. What it is, is challenging. In order to overcome dark times, I believe, we must confront them and try to understand why they are what they are, for that's the only process that can free us.
Retreating into fantasies of a happier past, where it's forever 1958 (the approach too many Americans have taken recently to address current problems) is to disarm in the face of danger. Above all, I think, trying times demand courage. So in my new novel and my poetry I've chosen not to retreat, but rather to dive into the wreck and see what may be discovered there, be it skeletons or sunken treasure.
I hope that you, my potential readers, will likewise choose not to shy away from the psychic challenge of our times, and in keeping with that outlook, will be willing to read my work.
Brent Hightower
Copyright Brent Hightower 2020
21stcenturyperceptions.blogspot.com
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