The Warrior Poet Group Supports the following Institutions:
The Warrior Poet Group
Behold the Literary Revolution
Rod's Philosophy:
Americans, and Westerners in general, live in a world bombarded by messages from outside forces, pushing us toward a lifestyle ruled by consumption. We are pumped with messages meant to induce not only reactions of fear, but personal inadequacy, and much like the miracle elixirs of old we are then offered a cure: commercialism. The unstated thesis being that, if we could just acquire enough stuff, or the right kind of stuff, we may actually find peace and happiness.
Although my interest in literature is partly wrapped up in its own kind of consumption, the consumption of quality writing, my interest in the creative process is entirely one of production. Art is a personal endeavor, an inner alchemy that requires a personal journey of transformation and results in physical manufacture. Those of us who make things, in any medium, not only put parts of ourselves into the product, but through the process find parts of ourselves that would otherwise remain hidden. The alchemists had a maxim, Solve et Coagula, meaning to separate and join together. If we cannot, or do not, break up the stimuli we take in, and apply it to something else, then we will only become buried in it. Studying what others have written is an excellent way to feel out your own tastes, and to develop ideas, that we can then use to propel ourselves into the depths of our own artistic endeavors.