All The Way
I've been thinking about this poem lately because it captures something universal and lasting about what it means to commit fully to a path. It also reflects what many people find inspiring and driving about life.
It speaks to the willingness to face a desire or calling without talking yourself out of it. To accept that creating something honest, something that is genuinely expressive, often requires solitude, vulnerability, and tolerance for cost. It asks us to confront fear directly and do it anyway.
I also read it as describing the artist's posture in the world. Artists tend to perceive differently. They register more, they feel more, and translate that perception into form. And when that translation works, the result is beauty. And the poem is clear that this process is not free. The cost is part of the work.
Beauty itself is a fascinating concept to me: universal, yet deeply personal in how it's received.
This poem also reminded me of one of my favorite video games stories. In 1986, the Japanese company Square was close to bankruptcy after several unsuccessful releases on the Famicom. With little left to lose, the team chose to make the game they always dreamed of making. That decision led to "Final Fantasy", which went on to shape a genre and become one of the most influential franchise in gaming history.
What began as a last attempt became defining work.
Going all the way always carries a cost. But the alternative - living cautiously, giving in to fear - carries its own weight. My interpretation is that, in the end, we are all called to make that choice regardless.
"If you’re going to try, go all the way.
Otherwise, don’t even start.
This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind.
It could mean not eating for three or four days.
It could mean freezing on a park bench.
It could mean jail.
It could mean derision.
It could mean mockery — isolation.
Isolation is a gift.
All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it.
And, you’ll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds.
And it will be better than anything else you can imagine.
If you’re going to try, go all the way.
There is no other feeling like that.
You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire.
You will ride life straight to perfect laughter.
It’s the only good fight there is.
- Charles Bukowski
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