Comments on: Learn from Lost Linchpin, Henry Darger

By: Samuel Fagan

Samuel Fagan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:15:40 +0000

Great post Justin. Like most others here, I don't want to “go” with my music left in me! The isolation Henry lived in was sad, yet sadder still is the exponential loss of impact he could have had with his work.

By: Samuel Fagan

Samuel Fagan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:15:40 +0000

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:01:51 +0000

Justin, Thanks for telling Henry's story. I suppose “sharing” isn't for everyone –but, it does work for me. I can't imagine how lonely I would feel if I didn't share what I do. I'm grateful to be a writer precisely because of the collaboration, the feedback…the readers!

By: Ed McLaughlin

Ed McLaughlin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:31:59 +0000

Justin, this is a great post. If not for his seclusion, Henry could have impacted a number of lives. It's a reminder for us all to embrace our art and share it with the world.

By: Jason Kellie

Jason Kellie — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:08:13 +0000

Justin, for me this seems like a pretty sad story. I'm unsure if he attempted to share any of his muse or if he simply did these many things as an outlet for himself? Perhaps in his time it was much more difficult to get his work to the public or maybe he felt like none of it was good enough to share? It makes me wonder how many others there were/are in the world with talents to offer who for one reason or another keep these things to themselves. File this one as “things that make you go hmmmm” for me. I feel inspired to be even more encouraging to those around me with untapped potential to better the world with their humanity. Thanks for the gut check… pretty timely for me.

By: Leader4hire

Leader4hire — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:49:14 +0000

@rickwolff – Sounds like a good reason to tell someone then *wink*. Thanks for sharing on Lost Linchpin, Henry Darger – would hate for any of us to hide such gifts and passion.

By: Rick Wolff

Rick Wolff — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:26:45 +0000

I hadn't heard of him either, Justin. Funny that this post should happen to cross my monitor at this moment. I'm debating whether to tell anyone, since in “Linchpin”, Seth Godin verifies a suspicion I've had, that part of the brain feels like an idea has shipped if it's described publicly. Mr. Darger is an extreme example of that.

By: Leader4hire

Leader4hire — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:39:54 +0000

Misako,
You are right, fear makes us do (or not do) many things. It should be noted that most of what we call “fear” today is just the Lizard Brain not true fear. I suspect Henry's Lizard Brain had hold more times than not.

Thanks for sharing!
Justin

By: Leader4hire

Leader4hire — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:35:27 +0000

Linchpins walk among us, those like Henry and his 15,145 page book only get noticed after they die when they hide it away like this. No more than ever, we need to share our passion, learn from others and have others learn from us.

Thanks for commenting Stephen.

By: Misako Lauritzen

Misako Lauritzen — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 11:19:12 +0000

Justin,

A beautiful post… Thank you so much for sharing it with us. It made me tearful. Indeed, many of us hold back from sharing our art for whatever the reason. Fear, mostly. Fear of what? Fear of being laughed at. Fear of disappointing others. Fear of disappointing ourselves. We are afraid of finding out that we are not as great as we've thought we are. Your post makes us realize it actually is better to find out that we are not as great as we've thought we are. Once we know we can always get better. It should be our worst fear that we never find out if we are any good, if we can move others. Thanks. It is a courageous post.

By: Stephen Smith

Stephen Smith — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:27:10 +0000

Wow, I never heard of Mr. Darger, what an interesting story. Certainly a nascent linchpin with enormous potential if only he had shared some of his passion with the world.
Just think of what we could learn from people like this if we had a chance to meet with them, if they did not keep such passion hidden away.