The Outrage
The best thing a person said to me at last night's art walk is "I feel your emotions ... including the angst, the outrage ... in your work."
It was the best thing because I know that such emotions are frequently with me ... which I intentionally don't chase away ... as they testify to my observations of the world. I'm not afraid of them. And when another human can experience my art and connect emotionally ... well ... that's as good as it gets for me. And as much as I enjoy Happy, I seek not to order my emotions into a hierarchy because Angst and Outrage aren't less important. Even with a still life of apples or flowers from a garden or portraits of faces, I am interested in honestly expressing with urgency, emotions I have in response to what I see, what I feel. I don't want to stay in the shallow end of life pretending that I'm in the deep end.
Speaking of which ... I'd like to say again ... ENOUGH.
Enough from self-annointed authorities on "how to live life" who preach endlessly about what humans should feel, via the "choose happy/I'll pray for you" movement. I don't choose my emotions. I experience life and emotions happen. Art happens. Expressions happen. Connections happen. You want me to choose happy? You want to pray for my outrage to go away? I say to that: Mind your own feelings. Pray (if you want to) for your own self. Because your finger pointing to the moon is not the moon.
To hear someone say "be positive/ be happy" grinds away at the conversation and halts it. Dismissive posture. To pray for another ones emotions to go away is absurd and insulting. Jenny you have just empowered me again. I will be more mindful of my response to others emotions and thoughts and respect them for what they are AND I will ask others NOT TO CHOOSE MY EMOTIONS FOR ME even if they mean well.
Posted by: Crisynda Buss | March 05, 2017 at 07:17 AM
Great post!
Posted by: stephanie | March 06, 2017 at 07:47 AM