19 Comments
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Matt Barron's avatar

Love your perspectives on life, Tommy - your hard-earned wisdom is like an inspiring work of art.

Tommy Swerdlow's avatar

Thank you brother. Glad you're still persuin' me

Matt Barron's avatar

Still pursuin’ because you write about failure not as humiliation, but as initiation. The breaking apart that makes deeper truth possible. The ego fights it every step of the way, but the soul grows strongest in those hard-earned fractures.

Your writing reminds people that wisdom rarely arrives polished. It comes out of wreckage, scars, survival, and the choice to keep moving forward anyway.

And it sure doesn’t hurt that you still write about food like some beautifully feral kindred spirit.

Grateful you keep putting your truth out into the world.

Tommy Swerdlow's avatar

Blow brother blow. So nice to hear and so nice to hear you.

Jennifer Lehr's avatar

“I have always been more interested in finding new solutions than in defending what was there. This is not always a great creative quality. Stubbornness and fierce (if not maniacal) belief in what you’ve done can be huge assets in the arts, they are just not ones I was blessed with; but what I do have is an ability to think on the fly and work within limits.” I have a feeling that you know when to be stubborn and fears and when surgery is needed and it sounds like you have the right brain and tools for the job. This post makes me feel relieved not to be a filmmaker. Writing is hard enough as it is. Much

respect.

Tommy Swerdlow's avatar

I like to a Rastafarian sign off. Much respect back.

Jennifer Lehr's avatar

*fierce! Not fears!

JoshuaNearly's avatar

Much the same in music… it’s a long way from perfectly spontaneous to spontaneously perfect! Good luck!

Bonnie Garvin's avatar

My attitude re: shitty drafts is that they can always be fixed.

Tommy Swerdlow's avatar

Bonnie-- Let's male belie that's true even if it isn't.

Bonnie Garvin's avatar

I like to think that about my drafts even when I’m deceiving myself!

Bonnie Garvin's avatar

I like to think that about my drafts even when I’m deceiving myself!

roytwilliams's avatar

Remembering that I can make mistakes and still be loved is a lesson I will be learning my entire life. That flaw and fuck-up are not a curse, but a blessing. A kind and nurturing voice whispering in my ear, “You blew it kid. Now, let’s get to work"

Best write that on my bathroom mirror, before I forget it. Thanks.

Eric Trules's avatar

That’s exactly why I’ve never bought a new car in my life.

Tommy Swerdlow's avatar

I wanted to say "I got you Roy" but it's so obnoxious. But I got you Roy. At least on that one.

Tommy Swerdlow's avatar

Thank you near and dear one.

Tommy Swerdlow's avatar

Oh the relief of the unpristine. Bergman has a line that a male character says to a woman who is apologizing for aging. You've taken on an imperfection that perfection can't touch.

Miranda Barfuss's avatar

"and with all delusions of perfection shattered, I am ready to get in there," ego has left the building.