(on having my cake and eating it too, O Lucky Man)
for myself relative to my being an individual and in terms of creativity. I was very lucky as a child to have lots of freedom as a latchkey only child, and it is that freedom I aspired to in my adult life through to early retirement from teaching at age 52.
Imagination and curiosity have also loomed large with an only childhood allowing scope for unlimited imagination. Curiosity and the desire to know more of certain information, particularly about great people of Western culture and civilization, has preoccupied me in the last decade. It has been sheer pleasure to learn about the greats of Western civilization from Leonardo to Michelangelo to Beethoven, Bach, Monet, Walt Disney and Edison.
My life has mostly been a search and quest, but many of the roads led finally to increased creativity and expression. I would have to say that Literature, beginning in senior high school and university, has greatly and hugely informed and expanded my life. It led back to Poetry in the 1980s, which is where I started with literature. From there, my values, views, and philosophy of life as well as my sensibility have been voiced best through the art of poetry. It is there you will mainly find my sensibility, views, and interests.
In the end, I feel I have long successfully, fully realized myself and my inner self. I have no missing pieces and accept all that has followed in the wake of my more active years and continuing select engagements and involvements. And, most importantly, I still have the freedom to be the individual I am and have communicated my various gifts to many others, including the most important people in my life.