parent – Clara Hsu

The first impressions of my son and daughter when they were born are imprints that will stay with me forever. Babies represent new hopes, a better me, a second and third chance to get things right. It takes years to undo that kind of thinking. I have come to understand that as soon as the umbilical cord is cut, the child is a separate being.

Sometimes when I look at my children (now 24 and 26 and much taller than me) I still see two helpless crying infants. It seems Mother Duck is following the ducklings instead of the other way around. Learning to let go and turn the gaze back on myself, I have to remind my father to do the same. His 55-year old daughter doesn’t want to tell him about all her coming and going. Parental love from a distance is good love.

Lawrence_deadline — Lawrence Hsu, bassist of Phoenix Ash

There’s no deadline in art. Creation is a continuous process with periods of quiescence and activities. Sometimes the medium changes from one form to another and you never know if you’re standing on the threshold of change. Deadline is for functionality, demanded by those who feel they must have something tangible. If you believe in art, you have to believe it all the way. There is no justification. There is no road map. Faith is the only thing you hold on to.

Artists are misunderstood creatures often being labeled as dreamers and lazy bums. No wonder they are depressed, living in an organized world that is measured by the dollar and goes by the ticking clock. Pragmatic parents withholding their financial support or threatening to ostracize their children in order to kill the artistic tendency is one of the saddest things I witness being a teacher. They have failed to see the courage behind the artist, taking the road least traveled, making a difference in the world.

Photo credit: Lei Chen

Tag: parent

Imprints

Deadline?