An office is usually thought of as a physical space for the purpose of work. I enjoy an alternative definition, which fits the purpose of this column, which is that an office is a special duty or charge, carried out for a [public] purpose. So, when I talk about the office of the artist-creator, I connect these ideals of unique expression and service through a practice of artistic/creative expression. I feel compelled to write notes about this office because it is a space I currently occupy. And through my experiences in this space, I gain a wealth of insight that I find vital to share. Finally, this column allows me to reflect on my journey as an artist-creator, giving the story of the journey itself space, voice, and form.
Originally, this column was a newsletter dispatched from my personal email ever since August last year, naming it The Artist Musings, to give an unedited picture of the inner workings of the artist-creator life. And then after a while, it morphed into the office it now is. Over the year, I’ve written about a bunch of themes, explored questions and answers and more questions, and settled easily into this experiment in truth-telling/-seeking. During the past couple of weeks, I’ve focused on the theme of self-discipline as I’ve found myself struggling with burnout and redefining what my practice is really about. During this time, a new name for self-discipline emerged and left “compassionate intention” in its place.
Moving this newsletter here is part of me practicing the lessons I’m unearthing as I think about compassionate intention. And as I’ve pondered the move, the principle of self-commitment has echoed in tandem. Capitalistic society centers the aims of empire as the purpose of existence; this revolutionizes self-commitment as a path of resistance. For me, self-commitment means a journey beyond social media metrics or profit figures gained through the exploitation of other people’s labor. Self-commitment exists with a focus on personal values that inform our metrics of success. Making art becomes making art political. If one of my personal values is self-compassion, then my art practice will be one that reflects these ideals. Thus, I feel successful when I am able to hold space+grace for my humanity, even when it feels as if I’m falling short of the demands of productivity culture.
One of my personal values is curiosity. I believe curiosity is a beautiful tool in practicing the embrace of creativity, which allows us to engage with a variety of perspectives. Curiosity opens our minds from the kind of fixed thinking that enables oppression and keeps inequitable power structures in place. The artist-creator’s current attachment to external metrics displaces their values for the sake of appealing to audiences, enabling celebrity culture, and aligning with people who do not share their values or even appreciate them.
My way of doing art will not appeal to the uninquisitive because my art is rooted in audaciously asking questions. But, when I align with my values, especially in the work I create and share, I attract community that enables me to more fully embrace my calling. In finding this community, I can also begin to engage in reciprocity, encouraging the development and championing the liberation I see blossoming within us all.
Liberation is another personal value of mine. The journey of an artist-creator is one of liberation. We create because we feel compelled to express a specific value to the world. All art holds within it a conversation about values. Octavia Butler said, “All that you touch you change. All that you change changes you.” Through the liberation to touch, we exercise and invite others into the permission of making and changing… (making change?) And this change is creative: it flows from the desires of the heart that ignore the directives of capitalism and Empire’s answers.
Returning to compassionate intention, liberation presents a responsibility to ourselves. It invites us to greater and greater curiosity. This curiosity invigorates our imaginations, resulting in further ideas and urges to be creative. Yet, an almost equal urge pulls us in the opposite direction, inviting us to distraction from our work, second-guessing our calling, and ultimately towards the denial of our creative expressions. Without compassionate intention and self-commitment, we succumb to this latter urge. Our practice remains dormant.
Practice is another word with many meanings. My favorite is the one that captures the way we do something with commitment and intention, learning more about it as we go along, increasing in skill by embracing the student’s path. It particularly tickles me that doctors have a practice. Because if they can have a practice in an office as tangibly life-altering as medicine, then we as artist-creators can relax a little and embrace our practice with its responsibilities. Art is our public service; investing our time into following the creative urge may not seem as outwardly important as open heart surgery, but it serves a grand purpose still, with its own unique part to play within a revolution towards a more liberated present and future.
Questions to ponder
How am I listening to my values speaking?
What change am I making? How is this change making me?
or In my world, have I made space for myself? What kind of space?
How can I romantically embrace my responsibility to my values?
or How am I becoming friendly to the principles I care about?
Have words like “self-discipline” and “responsibility” and “political” repelled me from my work?
Why are these ideas repulsive? Does it matter?
Further Seeking
I read Akwaeke Emezi’s book, Dear Senthuran. It has shaken many aspects of my work in the direction of liberation. Check out my mini-review here.
Uses of the Erotic by Audre Lorde. (essay) | This essay cuts right to the heart of what I believe living creatively is about, especially in the lives of Black women and queer people. Her definitions of ‘eroticism’ is refreshing, rejuvenating and nurturing for someone looking to pivot their creative practice towards their personal values.
Janelle Monáe: Whether I Show Skin or Not, I Won’t Adjust My Freedom for Your Comfort. (interview with StyleLikeU) | Janelle Monáe speaks about responsibility here. And I love the way they also name their journey with themselves as part of their responsibility.
(Angie Martinez IRL Podcast) | more goodness from Janelle Monáe talking about responsibility. In this interview, they touch on their external impact which is beautiful as well.
until next time, friends
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