There are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints.
Rita DoveRead
I keep the drafts of each poem in color-coded folders. I pick up the folders according to how I feel about that color that day.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the personal and emotional connection an artist has with their work, using color as a way to express feelings.
Rita Dove's quote highlights the nuanced relationship between emotions and creativity. By organizing her poetry drafts in color-coded folders, she directly connects her current emotional state with specific colors, suggesting that art creation is not just a technical process but also deeply influenced by one's feelings and mood. This method illustrates how artists often use personal experiences and emotions as catalysts for their creative endeavors.
Themes
ArtPoetryEmotionColorsCreativity
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote in a workshop to discuss how emotions influence creative processes.
More from Rita Dove
All quotes →Without imagination we can go nowhere. And imagination is not restricted to the arts. Every scientist I have met who has been a success has had to imagine.
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As an African-American, as a woman, I think that I've been sensitized to the way in which history privileges the white male and the way in which certain aspects of history, the things that we are taught in school, the things that are handed down, never, never entered the picture though they might have been very important.
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If our children are unable to voice what they mean, no one will know how they feel. If they can’t imagine a different world, they are stumbling through a darkness made all the more sinister by its lack of reference points. For a young person growing up in America’s alienated neighborhoods, there can be no greater empowerment than to dare to speak from the heart — and then to discover that one is not alone in ones feelings.
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All of us have moments in our childhood where we come alive for the first time. And we go back to those moments and think, This is when I became myself.
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Being Poet Laureate made me realize I was capable of a larger voice. There is a more public utterance I can make as a poet.
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