Art as Transformation

It's commonly said that it's very hard to be an artist.

It's not so much that this path is 'hard' but that it requires a complete transformation of the kind of socialized beliefs that most of us grow up with. One has to give up common ideas of how the world works, and open oneself up to new ideas. Learn new systems and new ways of being.

I've learned to let go of egotistical motivations, understand myself emotionally, focus on what I love and set my sights beyond all current knowledge.

I've learned that the truest freedom occurs when the individual breaks completely from the herd and learns to think for herself.

I've learned that we are all interconnected and that collaboration is worth so much more than competition. That relationships can (and should) be mutually beneficial, with both parties gaining more together than they could alone. That work is sacred - my gift to the universe, to life. That my interaction with the surrounding environment doesn't have to be an extractive, exploitative and imbalanced one. That it can be regenerative and healing.

I've learned that I'm far from perfect - that all human beings are inherently 'flawed' in the traditional sense - but that this is a kind of perfection in itself. We're conscious beings of great complexity. Even our own ideas about ourselves sometimes don't even come close to articulating our full potential!

I've learned that I don't have to walk around with several lifetimes worth of guilt. That I am free here and now and that taking pleasure in life is not wrong - it is in fact desirable.

We are here to enjoy this universe, to enjoy being in whatever way we can.

Being on this path is difficult at times, of course, but I do think that sort of difficulty is inherent in life. It helps us grow. Giving up old habits that do not work can be challenging - but the ultimate result is always joy and greater freedom. It's so much more difficult being on a path with no heart - one that does not take the expansion of the human experience into account.

The practice of art has transformed me - it's led me to question the fundamentals of what it means to be human. It's brought me back to myself, after almost a lifetime of forgetting... though in my heart somewhere, I always knew.

(silentinfinite.com)