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About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker recognizes a familiar uncertainty in expression, where the self and the created work blur into something that feels both foreign and essential.
In plain terms
When creating, it's hard to tell where you end and the work begins.
What can you take from it?
Accept that art often reveals parts of us we didn't know were there.

Where it applies

  • writing
  • music
  • personal expression

Putting it to work

  • embrace ambiguity in work
  • listen to intuition

Questions to consider

  • When does your work feel separate from you?
  • How do you know an idea is yours?

Another view

This view may undervalue intentional craft in favor of mystique.

More from Wallace Stevens

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