“Poetry is the first and last of all knowledge–it is as immortal as the heart of man. If the labors of Men of Science should ever create any material revolution, direct or indirect, in our condition, and in the impressions which we habitually receive, the Poet will sleep then no more than at present, but he will be ready to follow the steps of the Man of Science, not only in those general indirect effects, but he will be at his side, carrying sensation into the midst of the objects of the Science itself.” – William Wordsworth
Why write?
Perhaps that’s a silly question. The answer appears obvious; we write to record. To relay information. To argue, persuade, convince. To provide avenues through which the human voice can have an impact where it otherwise might have been silenced.
Maybe there is a better question; why study writing? Why engage in it on a level so sentimental that it becomes part of the human experience in ways that are not “necessary?”
It wasn’t until I was already working on my master’s degree that I began to study William Wordsworth in any kind of serious capacity. Wordsworth viewed language as a living process, and as a result he was not above revisiting and revising his own work consistently throughout his lifetime and explaining the intricacies of his methodology to those who asked. Language is a system of representations, yes, but it is also a system of sentimentality, and it is sentiment that allows us to make sense of the world around us, even in a theoretical society where science is the law of the land and all our lived experiences have technical explanations. Language is the process through which we convey the experience of being conscious.
It is for this reason that I more or less treat this website as an experiment in conscious engagement on my own behalf.
We live in strange times, and one of the ways we can begin to make sense of it all is, quite simply, to put pen to paper and write out what our immediate impressions are. Sometimes this may take the form of poetry. It isn’t uncommon for the cruel and unfathomable aspects of the world to lend themselves to remarkable abstractions. But sometimes the best response is the analytical or logical approach. If the politics of our time are concerning, for instance, then it is perhaps best if those that are concerned deal directly in the rhetoric of the politics of our time.
Regardless of method, being a conscious individual requires active engagement, and here I begin to carve out an excitingly ambiguous mission statement for this website.
On the top you will find links to various sections of the site. Articles with analytical slants related to political developments or criticism of the entertainment industry can be found in the “politics” and “Film, Television, and Entertainment” sections, respectively. Writing pieces that are designed to flex creative writing muscles or otherwise exist to jot down fleeting thoughts in a less structured format can be found in either the “creative writing” or “casual thoughts” sections. For more background into who I am, feel free to click “about me.” If you’d like to know my contact details or be able to send me a message directly through this site, that is possible by clicking “contact.”
I intend to continue updating this site multiple times each week. Feel free to come, go, and comment as often or as little as you please. Regardless, thank you very much for reading this far.
All best,
– Tyler N. Burdick