Jimmy Mirikitani is an artist and the star of The Cats of Mirikitani, a PBS documentary. The documentary filmmaker is the woman who brought him into her home after 9-11, because he was living on the streets in NYC. It is an amazing film and I highly recommend it.

I mention it because Jimmy, who says he is a natural born artist, tells the filmmaker at one point, “I’m an artist. I know you inside, inside the heart.” Jimmy is right – This is how writers and artists know people, they know them inside.

This is certainly part of living like a writer. If you think about it, I would bet that you “know the inside” of people you encounter, especially since we are all natural born artists. So cultivate this knowing, in your writing, and in your life – both will be richer for it.

Sakada

P.S. Thanks to Renee Lackey, the artist who gifted me with this film.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 10th, 2008 and is filed under Thoughts, Write to Your GeniusWork. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.