A reminder a part of the artmaking process is letting someone else enjoy it.
It was the end of a laughter and word-filled writing playground. As it happens sometimes, no one seemed to want to leave. I started gathering up my things in a different part of the room. I noticed people leaving and said, “Remember to take home your souvenir paper!”
Participants came to the table where I had laid out my signature painted pages for them to use as both a writing prompt and a conversation piece. This time I had included some mixed media pages, including one with one of my favorite poems I wrote earlier this month, revolution.
I had told myself this was part of my lesson in letting go. There were some pages I was particularly attached to but they were only piece of paper. Sure, some had been worked on more and combined with other pieces of art but seriously, letting go has become a spiritual practice of personal growth and I was devoted to seeing myself continue to increase my understanding of detachment.
“What pages are you taking?”
I watched as Ryan held up the mixed media piece I bearing much of my poem “revolution” he had used as a writing prompt earlier in the afternoon. When I put it in the box before I left my house I had thought, “I’ll set this one aside” but I consciously hadn’t.
My heart moved higher in my chest for a moment and I smiled. “Oh, you are taking ‘revolution’!” It was like watching one of my babies moving away from home. He smiled and nodded and I watched them walk out the door. This page was created during the Art Journal Wisdom course I took in early autumn. It included a background of poetry by John Donne, some yellow wallpaper gleaned from my old bedroom before I painted it and more.
It was as if a piece of me was walking out the door leaving the rest of me behind wondering where I was going.
My shoulders dropped, slightly grateful, as I allowed the realization to sink into my belly. Giving my art away to perhaps be used in another's life and development.
Boldness doesn't always feel perfect.
It is simply a part of the process.
We make art not only for ourselves, but for the world.
I realize now, through writing, that piece held within it more than could be see. Maybe Ryan felt the residue of what I felt while in the creative process.
Ironically, none of that mattered.
Art making is both being bold and letting go. For this I am grateful.
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Julie Jordan Scott is a writer, creative life coach, speaker, performance poet, Mommy and mixed-media artist whose Writing Camps and Writing Playgrounds permanently transform people's creative lives. Watch for the announcement of new programs coming Fall and Winter, 2014 and beyond.
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© 2014
This post is a part of the ongoing series for 31 Days challenge. I will be writing 31 blog stories about bold choices and using a bold voice...I am woefully behind, again. I'm still devoted, though, and still writing!
If you would like to read all my posts from the beginning of the challenge, simply visit here, at 31 Days of Bold Stories, Voices and Choces
The question is making sure to carve out the time and to document it all in a way you'll enjoy reading about bold choices in a most authentic, real-me voice.
I'm grateful you are reading.
