Writer as Alaskan; Writer as Existent- Response

         As the world enters its fast progression in expanse and technology, what suffers is the possibility of quality literature. The world begins to lose its imagination, its appreciation for the naturally beautiful and awe inspiring qualities. Qualities that are overlooked by over scheduled days, motivations such as money and status replace the simple motivations that once were an appreciation of the land around, and the endless possibilities of self-discovery.  Inhabitants of even the most magnificent places on the planet become to jaded by their day to day lives that they fail to ever really live in the land that they have occupied for decades.

         John Haines’ essay “Writer as Alaskan: Beginnings and Reflections” focuses on the literary world's quickly dwindling opportunities to illustrate the world around as not merely what we encounter on a daily basis, but our ability to truly live. A person can live anywhere in the world, but it is not until one begins to recognize, yet more to feel, the complexity of the world without its recent distractions, that the individual exists and really begins to occupy the world in which he lives. Though his essay seems to be intended for writers, I feel that anyone can relate to the message it conveys. Haines writes “The way we live nowadays seems intended to prevent closeness to anything outside this incubator world we have built around us.” The journey to original literature, Haines describes as having everything we have come to know as being against it. It is not human nature to fight what we have become comfortable in, the monotomy of our daily lives and being submerged in a culture built around entertainment and social status.

        Writer as Alaskan is about not only putting yourself in an otherwise uncomfortable place, both physically and mentally, but to allow a place to be more than the common sense of the word. Allow the place to alter your mind, open your imagination and expand your consciousness to see beyond the modern world’s distractions and let yourself be an active participant to what you see. “To see what is here right in front of us: nothing would seem easier or more obvious, yet few things are more obvious.” Haines says literature “enhances the place, the conditions under which we live, and we are more alive thereby.”  The struggle in this case is the shrinking opportunities that we have as writers today to be fortunate enough to still be able to live in an “other” world than we do. We must not only recall the things we see visually, but also the emotions that come with realizing that we are connected to those things we see. Haines thoughts on writing in terms of being a relief from what the world is becoming is a strong reoccurrence in this essay, “genuine literature shows, as only great writings and art do show, the significant shapes that lie behind appearances.”

        As we develop as individuals and writers, we must put in a conscious effort to resist becoming comfortable in our world. Realizing that there is more to what we think we know and see will prevent us from just being momentary participants in our own lives. In order to truly exist in our lives we must push what we feel is life as we know it. Experience a place as more than a shell that we occupy. Establishing imagination and emotions in a place connects you with the world at large, as well as providing an immense sense of self.