Without this deep examination, where would the work come from? It's the looking outward and looking inward that creates layers and imbues the work with meaning.
The art expresses the thoughts and the expression isn't lost on the viewer, who also tends to think too much.
The viewing is a conversation. It's where the artist and viewer can connect on a level not accessable in any other language. It's a private conversation and it's where we spill our guts. It's you and me in the treehouse in the back yard, eating stolen cookies and talking in whispers about our parents and the stuff that really scares us.
This is important, I think, because it keeps us from feeling alone on these deeper levels, these places where we keep the things we don't talk about at the office.
So thinking is valuable. It helps us create the work that brings us together. But what is too much? When do we know we've gone too far? When do we know we're out of balance?
For me, it's revealed in sleep, or lack of it. Less dreaming, more waking. When thinking follows me to my pillow.
What's your refuge? How do you know when you're thinking too much? What do you do to tune it out? How do you manage, when you need to, to simply be?
5 comments:
When my head becomes to much, I simply go out into the woods. We have frogs and common buzzards and jays and crows and deer and an awful lot of really clever trees. Perfect for calming me down.
The mountains, defintely. There is nothing like being alone on top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere to provide perspective. Although, as Diandra said, the woods alone do a nice job if no mountain is readily available.
There's a lot to be said against riding the bus, and I've said them from time to time, but it's also a place where I can find a seat, tuck myself into a corner, put on some music and stare out the window, and not have to think so much. I can just be.
I -can- think if I want to, or read, or grade, or write, but I don't have to.
There are very few others places I feel I can go to that don't come with expectations of work or involvement with others.
Sometimes taking the mp3 player and running for some miles will work for me, though at times i tend to turn around thougths even more then, deoending on the matter.
Books,Stories never fail to "Take me away"
When the thoughts start spinning around themselves, without ever leading to anything productive, then I usually need to do something completely unrelated. A change of location and a change of action work well, especially if they require a lot of concentration on the current activity, as it drives out the old, unproductive, thoughts. After that change, a round of something peaceful, and I'm ready to go back to the problematic stuff (hopefully!).
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