Grumpy’s Great YouTube Adventure
I rant
There was a time when poets and storytellers didn’t write things down, they spoke them. I always wanted to do that and now, YouTube is my big chance.
On my YouTube channel Poetry & Purpose, you will find two kinds of videos:
First, spoken version so of writings by other authors, including “German Poetry Today” and Gracian’s “The Art of Worldly Wisdom;”
So … just me ranting.
Though YouTube is the heart of Poetry & Purpose, we try to make everything as available as possible, so you will also find us on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, as well as via our Poetry & Purpose website and the Substack newsletter/blog of the same name.
My contribution to the contemporary German poetry section “German Poetry Today” is, ironically, neither contemporary nor German.
As a fan of medieval literature, I decided to re-imagine some of my favorite poems by my favorite German medieval troubadour, Walther von der Vogelweide – into English.
And yes, they turn out very different from the originals.
There’s nothing like the satisfaction of pouring a glass of whiskey – or some other strange drink I can’t resist – on a Friday night, relaxing and thinking about the things that came thundering down upon you during the week:
Work, unexpected occurrences, something someone said, politics, writing, getting older and seeing things differently, life.
So I do it in front of a camera.
Then I pour myself another whiskey, go say hello to Astrid and start the weekend.
I came to a point in my life where I realized I was not the person I wanted to be.
I had achieved a certain modicum of success – I am a writer in Europe, something I had dreamed of being since I was a kid – but no matter what I did, something was holding me back.
This book fell into my hands.
It change my life.
For this video series, I have carefully rewritten the text for clarity and recorded each chapter on 300 individual videos.
I used to hate Mondays.
But as I launched my final effort to enter into a last life, Mondays become more and more an opportunity for a new start, like a new year or a new job or a new love.
I can plan, I can see clearly what needs to be done and it feels like I can do it. Today I find Monday mornings full of promise and vibrating with life.
So what do I do? I rant about it.
That’s the exciting, apocalyptic message we hear everyday, until we feel like we are all the last freedom fighters in a sci-fi dystopian teen Netflix series. It’s a great story, but alas, it’s not reality.
In fact, the world has never been better, the future never brighter, the opportunities never more plentiful. It’s just not cool to say so.
But I’m not cool.
That’s what “Odes to Life” is about.
By teaching creative writing, I learn a lot – not only about writing, what it means, how it works, but about life.
A story is a mirror of life – to tell a story means to try to understand life and to put the chaos of it in order – to give it meaning.
These videos are both about the art of writing – thoughts about storytelling I have as I think about how a story works – but it is also about what storytelling teaches us about life
What you will find at Substack and Patreon
You will find our Substack newsletter valuable if you are:
– searching for purpose and meaning, or want to become a person capable of achieving something in life; or
– if you write or want to enhance your creativity and understanding of life through writing.
In our free section,
you will find the lessons and insights I have learned in my life and am still learning today:
– from 60 years of life as an outsider in two cultures and on two continents – as a haole in Hawaii and an Ami in Germany;
– from my quest to find purpose, meaning as spirituality, and the truth about the confused world we live in;
– from my fight with depression and life with ADHD;
– from my study of the great books and poetry of the great thinkers in history.
Our exclusive section
is for writers and those learning to write – in it, you will find:
– practical lessons on the craft of storytelling;
– tips on how to enhance your creativity and find meaning and purpose in life through writing;
– my experiences in the world of professional writing, but also as one who explores life through writing.
This exclusive content, "Writing is a Sacred Act," is available to both my Substack subscribers and my supporters on Patreon.
If you are someone who consciously thinks about their lives and the world they live in;
if you are driven by a desire to create or achieve;
if you write or are learning to write,
you will love this newsletter.
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