"Memos From the Thinking Brain"

Annie Dillard has convinced me that a writer's place is a mental state of mind which reflects everywhere they have been. As I reread her personal experience with "the writing life", I realized that the reader is forced to acknowledge her physical surrounding and state. Without any question, Annie is alone. Society does not think of her, yet even if it did Annie does not connect herself to society. She is surrounded by nature and physical peace. She could walk to the beach, read in a quiet environment, or even exercise her brain by drawing. She drinks enough coffee to be awake for days. Her physical state is perfect for a clear mind and perfect for a writer. Where is this writer mentally?

Let us focus on the general place of an artist. An artist is a creator. This creation in which the artist creates normally has a meaning. Artists have various surroundings while creating. Sometimes they create when they are alone, without any distractions. Other times, artists work well in the midst of corruption and noise. Whatever the physical surrounding may be, it forces emotions and sparks ideas. Your physical surrounding does not matter until the moment you allow it to seep into the brain and stimulate thoughts, protests, memories, etc. The physical surrounding of your past and your present matters when it helps the artist to create emotions, ideas and actions.

As negative as Annie Dillard is about writing, the beginning of her story clearly reflects the fact that she allows her physical environment to affect her emotions, ideas, and actions. I believe her environment is what keeps her brain functioning. Her environment makes her feel frustrated, anxious and restless which are three words that could describe "The Writing Life". Her environment created emotions which gave her a vision.

As her story continues, she explains to her audience that she has, after days of loneliness and self-pity, found a vision.
"...bearing the vision itself in mind.. you begin to scratch the first faint marks on the canvas, on the page. You begin the work proper. Now you have gone and done it. Now the thing is no longer a vision: it is paper." (pg 17)
The environment created emotion and ideas; emotion and ideas become a vision; and the vision is transformed into a path. A physical place only matters when it assists the artist in discovering themselves by the places they have been, the things they have seen, and the feelings they have felt. Once an artist dwells on this, they are able to settle on a path to a discovery of themselves and personally, I think this is what Annie Dillard is trying to explain to her artist.