Thomas W.P. Slatin

Writing, Photography, and Website Design

Apr-4-2008

I Collect Notes And Pieces Of Paper

One of my favorite facts about me in my profile is the one where I state that I like to collect notes and pieces of paper I find on public sidewalks.  It says a lot about me, both as a person, and as a writer.  Perhaps it makes me appear to be a bit of a voyeur or something, though this is hardly the case, I can assure you.

Writing is a form of creativity that comes from within.  All good writers will tell you that they have at least one source of inspiration.  Mine just happens to come visually, or through my life experiences (also sometimes known as tactile); I do a lot of listening and very little talking because I’m an observer.  Picking up pieces of discarded notes, paper, photographs, etc., gives me an anonymous glimpse into someone else’s life experience.  We as humans can only see the world from our own perspective, and when you see the world from the perspective of someone else, this can be an amazing source of inspiration.  I’ve often said that I’d like to see the world from another angle; this is what I’m trying to do.

I could easily fill volumes of notebooks with my scattered thoughts, ideas, hopeless dreams, and random nonsense, but I don’t, partially because this is something that crazy people do, but moreover, it’s something that tends to lead me nowhere.  If however, this works for you, by all means keep doing it and forget about me calling you crazy.  What I should do is organize all of the things I’ve found into some sort of notebook or filing system, or better yet, post my finds on the website.

What inspires me the post to write and take pictures is about preservation.  Preservation of my life experience and knowing that someday even I might be known as an accomplished writer or photographer.  That day certainly isn’t today, but it could very well be tomorrow, next week, or decades from now; that’s what keeps me inspired and motivated to keep doing it!

In all actuality, I just want to be known; be known for my accomplishments, my tireless preservation efforts, my writing, whatever.  Everybody wants to make tons of money and have material possessions, whereas I just want people to know who I am.  I sincerely believe that someday, they will.

Shamess Plug:  I’ll take photos of anything, and write about anything.  Hire Me!

Posted under Photography, Writing
  1. Andy Said,

    i’ll admit, this is quite interesting. but hey, inspiration comes in so many forms…why not?

Add A Comment

If you do post content or submit material, and unless we indicate otherwise, you grant TomSlatin.com a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable right to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, and display such content throughout the world in any media. You grant TomSlatin.com and sublicensees the right to use the name that you submit in connection with such content, if they choose. You represent and warrant that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to the content that you post; that the content is accurate; that use of the content you supply does not violate this policy and will not cause injury to any person or entity; and that you will indemnify TomSlatin.com for all claims resulting from content you supply. TomSlatin.com has the right but not the obligation to monitor and edit or remove any activity or content. TomSlatin.com takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any content posted by you or any third party.