“We should write as we dream; we should even try and write, we should all do it for ourselves, it’s very healthy, because it’s the only place where we never lie. At night we don’t lie. Now if we think that our whole lives are built on lying-they are strange buildings-we should try and write as our dreams teach us; shamelessly, fearlessly, and by facing what is inside very human being-sheer violence, disgust, terror, shit, invention, poetry. In our dreams we are criminals; we kill, and we kill with a lot of enjoyment. But we are also the happiest people on earth; we make love as we never make love in life.”
Hélène Cixous encourages writers to draw inspiration from their dreams, which she believes reveal our true selves without any pretense. By embracing the raw emotions and experiences found in dreams, writers can create authentic and powerful works that resonate with readers.
In this quote by Hélène Cixous, she emphasizes the importance of writing authentically and truthfully, drawing parallels between writing and dreaming. Cixous suggests that writing is a means of accessing our innermost thoughts and desires without the constraints of societal norms or expectations. By writing as we dream, she believes we can tap into a raw and uninhibited form of expression that reveals the true essence of our being. Cixous challenges us to embrace the darkness and vulnerability within ourselves, including our primal instincts and fears, in order to create honest and powerful narratives. She celebrates the freedom and liberation that comes from writing with unabashed honesty, encouraging us to explore the depths of our imagination and emotions without fear.
In today's fast-paced and image-driven society, Hélène Cixous' words about writing as we dream and confronting our innermost emotions and fears hold great relevance. In a world where authenticity is often overshadowed by curated online personas and societal expectations, Cixous' call to write shamelessly and fearlessly serves as a reminder to stay true to ourselves and explore the depths of our subconscious. By embracing our dreams and inner thoughts, we can tap into a source of creativity and honesty that is essential for personal growth and self-expression.
Exploring our dreams and writing from a place of raw honesty can be a powerful and transformative experience. As we delve into the depths of our subconscious, we may uncover truths about ourselves that we may not be consciously aware of. Reflecting on Hélène Cixous' words, consider the following questions:
“We should write because it is human nature to write. Writing claims our world. It makes it directly and specifically our own. We should write because humans are spiritual beings and writing is a powerful form of prayer and meditation, connecting us both to our own insights and to a higher and deeper level of inner guidance.We should write because writing brings clarity and passion to the act of living. Writing is sensual, experiential, grounding. We should write because writing is good for the soul. We should write because writing yields us a body of work, a felt path through the world we live in. We should write, above all, because we are writers, whether we call ourselves that or not.”
“Writing is the voice that calls us from dreams, that peeks out of the corner of our eyes when we think no one is looking, the longing that breaks out hearts even when we think we should be happiest, and to which we cannot give a name.”
“...why is it that, in creative writing courses today, the very first thing we teach students is write what you know? Perhaps that's not the right way to start at all. Imaginative literature is not necessarily about writing who we are or what we know or what our identity is about. We should teach young people and ourselves to expand our hearts and write what we can feel. We should get out of our cultural ghetto and go visit the next one and the next.”
“I don’t think we should try to make space our own. I believe that as modern people we should live in mobility. We should always be moving.”
“Most of us are not raised to actively encounter our destiny. We may not know that we have one. As children, we are seldom told we have a place in life that is uniquely ours alone. Instead, we are encouraged to believe that our life should somehow fulfill the expectations of others, that we will (or should) find our satisfactions as they have found theirs. Rather than being taugh to ask ourselves who we are, we are schooled to ask others. We are, in effect, trained to listen to others' versions of ourselves. We are brought up in our life as told to us by someone else! When we survey our lives, seeking to fulfill our creativity, we often see we had a dream that went glimmering because we believed, and those around us believed, that the dream was beyond our reach. Many of us would have been, or at least might have been, done, tried something, if...If we had known who we really were.”