Mark Creasey loves shooting insects. He thinks they are all around us going about their business, they can be beautiful or horrifying or simply fascinating, but most people just ignore them or worse… Killing them unthinkingly.
Do you think they experience joy?
When asked to represent himself, Mark gives a picture of an insect and reacts:
Oh, noes! More people to wind up hating on me!
But why would they do this?
You once told me that I had to love myself to get people to like me. Can I leave it at that?
What does your soul crave for?
Somebody warm that cares about me as much as I care about them… And I sort of see that as pathetic but there you go.
It’s actually a wonderful aspiration, so what do you do about it?
I was always led to believe you shouldn’t try to force these things, that meeting a soulmate is something that just happens… Therefore, I do very little other than chatting to people I like and trying not to be quite as irascible and/or miserable as I sometimes seem to be.
Obviously, I met you, Lady F, online but I don’t think where we met was a place where I expected I could feed my soul…. still, I remain openminded about the prospect.
Did that make sense?
Everything makes perfect sense, I will tell you if it doesn’t.
Thank you, my fairy companion.
What would your fellow soul be like – in your bravest dreams?
Smart, funny, maybe exotic in some way, charming, caring, and attractive… I guess that’s what everybody says.
Yes, but now we delve in…describe exotic?
The truth is, I don’t really have a blueprint, I just want them to like me and not be awkward to spend time with. When I say that it could mean all sorts of things… From a slightly different accent to red hair to polka dots and antlers. Something different that makes them stand out… that would be like the icing on the cake though.
And what is it that makes you stand out?
It depends on the people who are looking at me, no? Not everybody will see something that makes me seem different me and to many that do, that something could just as easily put them off as much make them want to know me.
But name one thing that makes you peculiar!
Lack of shame and a mind that’s a bit too open… Personality-wise. My mussy hairstyle and designer stubble if we want to talk about appearances. You said one thing and I said four things in total… I am such a terrible interviewee.
Do you have a beard like a wizard, because I somehow imagine you do?
I’ve been told it looks like various things…. wizard is one, french philosopher, pirate, even Hulk Hogan at times.
What do you call spiritual ripeness?
I have never called anything spiritual ripeness.
You have told me you don’t want to share your literary stuff because you feel uncomfortable with them. why do you create stuff that makes you feel uncomfortable?
It is cathartic… and I did say I was prepared to share what I’d written with you, it’s just that most of it isn’t in a format where I can do that easily.
Cathartic in what way?
Admittedly, I am more reluctant to share what I’ve written as my inner feelings are not as positive as yours. When I wrote, it released a lot of the clutter that was clouding my mind.
Yes, but I have always wondered why, say, Stephen King does write the stuff he writes (he is not very positive as well)…
I think that darkness has value in culture, maybe just as much maybe more so than light. Even in your own stories, there is drama.
That’s very interesting. Why do you think it’s so? My director used to say – it’s always better to live through a tragedy than through a comedy…
In situations that are not easy, we are forced to depend on ourselves more.
Challenged?
Yes.
I think that reality often is dark and if we address the issues that make it so in our mids, we are better able to cope with them.
And when you are initiated in a supersensual bright reality, how do you react to it?
As best I can.
Do you think light has got its place in art?
Of course, yes
What’s the most romantic poem you have read?
It depends on what you mean by romance, if you mean of the love interest sort then it’s either Valentine by John Fuller or She Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron. I don’t consider my love poetry tastes to be very developed though. Honestly, I don’t feel romance in that way… to me being romantic requires either effort or bravery and is a very specific thing that is felt between two people. No prose that is said by somebody I have never met about somebody else I have never known really sings to me in the way it obviously does to many people.
What’s your most romantic experience?
One springs to mind but it will be something you won’t expect. When I was at university I was sitting on a bed with this other student in his dorm room… We all had these small single rooms in halls of residence type place. He picked up his guitar and played the song ‘Mother’ by Pink Floyd to me. This guy was cute, long blond hair and gorgeous eyes and it really made me go all woozy. He was out and gay and I well, I was still a virgin at that stage. I kissed him on the lips and he kissed me back after he finished but that was all that happened. But without that song, I wouldn’t have even seen him as a possible partner.
What makes a good kisser?
Confidence, a sense of fun, patience, and nice smelling breath lol. Also, a large dollop of empathy.
What makes good sex then?
All of that plus energy, stamina, two bodies that fit together as well as the minds that control them. Knowing each other well. And a certain je ne sais quoi.
In English?
It’s a mystery factor that there isn’t really a word for in English.
Dictionary says: The phrase was borrowed into English as an expression of a quality that makes something or someone attractive, distinctive, or special in some way, but is hard to put into words.
I see…French people are inventive!
They seem to have the art of love as their national hobby.
What’s your idea of the perfect traveling time?
Sitting on a train with snowy landscapes outside and either listening to music on headphones or reading a book… Plus, it was pretty nice when my ex drove me through the mountains in a hired car when we went to California
Are you a happy person?
I stay at a set level of contentedness… Not too happy but not self-pity or depression. nd even at the best times of my life, that level doesn’t change. I try not to be too whiney about stuff but then I’m not a shiny beacon of joy and rapture either. I don’t see anything wrong with not pretending that I’m fully happy either… I think it is worth being open about what the problems are at least to myself.
Describe your personality?
Unambitious, caring, introspective, and loyal.
The perfect date?
Seriously, I don’t have a blueprint for that… It’s more about the person than the date though.
I can be stuck at work with someone I like and have a better time than I would roaming Disneyland with somebody I’m not compatible with. On a first date, I do tend to opt for the theatre… Go and see a play. That might sound odd as it rules out a lot of talking time, but I think it gives the conversation a starting point and you can tell if you like somebody and there will always be more time for chatting later on.
So, anything that involves kissing a fairy and creating memories.
Thanks to Mark for sharing his thoughts about insects, love-making, art, and life.
