Greetings! In this blog, I would be discussing about the connection between art and introspection :)
Twenties is such a period of life where we get swamped with a lot of questions and thoughts. This is the phase where we will want to connect with the process of doing something, to keep doing a task consistently would seem huge. The internet is filled with umpteen courses for career, life, arts and what not. People question us about career and it would seem like they are concerned only with our results.We might feel irritated. But in reality, we are all running behind time and trying to get our life sorted.
"We are all walking each other home" :)
- Ram Dass
Sometimes people would question about my absecnce or silence in life and in social media. The reason is I am faced with addressing life's needs right now and I am trying to take all other interests in a slow and steady manner. Past few months have been a little hectic for me balancing both Cma and music exams. Of course, music helps in expressing my suppressed emotions, it gives me great reilef and joy. But since I've been learning music from when I was young, there's always this little force that exists within for betterment which automatically leads to conscious and serious practice hours on some days. Accounts and finance seem good to study, but I couldn't enjoy my cma preparation either after a point because of the fear that came along due to uncertainty in results. During this phase, I found solace in art and craft. I am grateful to people who have been with me during this phase. When it was hard for me to connect with myself, painting, drawing, doing some craft work and of course prayer made me feel calm. It gave me the energy to perform all my activities, helped me to be patient with myself and introspect myself.
"Introspection is the examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings. In psychology, the process of introspection relies on the observation of one's mental state, while in a spiritual context it may refer to the examination of one's soul. Introspection is closely related to human self-reflection and self-discovery and is contrasted with external observation."
Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introspection
Source - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introspection
From when I was young, I have loved drawing, colouring, painting, creating stuff ,taking part in skits, singing and writing. Since my cma exam is an online exam, for practice and preparation my most connection would be with the laptop. I loved taking notes using my hands and I would enjoy the flow and connectivity of topics. But this was not very well needed for the exam. Though I had to and could type using keyboards, from introspecting I understood that, whenever I created something by moving my hand according to what the mind said, it felt so good to me. After I completed my first part of the exam, I painted a galaxy. I can't express how happy and grounded I felt while doing it, towards the end tears started rolling down my eyes. I loved doing that so much.
In the book "Steal like an artist" written by Austin Kleon, there is a chapter named
"USE YOUR HANDS". The whole chapter is so beautiful. I could not have said better than whatever the author has written. I am inserting few messages from that chapter.
- He talks about setting up two work stations with whatever space we have, an 'analog' station where we work with zero digital devices and a 'digital' station with all the digital devices. Then to stand up and move around the analog station while working.
- He also says that the computer brings the uptight perfectionist in us and that we start editing ideas even before we can process them
- I loved a quote while reading this chapter. It is written by Edward Tufte - " I have stared long enough at the glowing flat rectangles of computer screens. Let us give more time for doing things in the real world...plant a plant, walk the dogs, read a real book, go to the opera"
I got to know about ART JOURNALING through social media and made it a point to attend a workshop after all my exams got over. (To know more about art journaling and its benefits, visit - https://www.radartmedia.com/post/benefits-of-art-journaling).My art journaling experience turned out to be joyful. The session began with a short meditation followed by art journaling. I was asked to create an art journal in two rectangular cards with one card depicting the theme "How the world looks at you " and the other depicting the theme "How you genuinely want to be". All the materials were provided. After completion we were asked to explain about each of our art journal cards. It was nice to listen to the illustrations and witness the creativity of the participants. In the end, it all seemed so beautiful and worth it.
Only during the past few months I understood that not only music but art and craft also greatly helps in processing thoughts, expressing emotions, healing and is a bolster for introspection.When we are self-aware, we get a clarity to make decisions, it helps us in believing in ourselves. I never knew I would be blogging about this topic when I started this instagram page. Considering all my interests and goals, I am taking one step at a time and joyfully witnessing myself evolve :) 💜
