“Rekindle” a.k.a. Where The Art Can Get You

I fell in love with a lot of different arts, as a kid.

Singing. Or wanting to sing, and feel a story

and rhythm move through me.

Music.

Playing the flute.

The piano.

Watching people play guitar.

Dancing.

Asking to take ballet classes at the local

community center.

“Alright girls 1st position, 2nd position, 3rd position,

4th position, very good, heels in, point out,

stand up straight, 5th position.”

Fashion. Sewing, and cutting, and shaping,

and making alterations in the clothes I already had.

Drawing, or doing my best to draw, images of clothes

I imagined or dreamed about.

Writing, and making the images I saw in my mind,

and feelings I was feeling, and rhythms and connections,

I was experiencing, exist right there, in some form,

on the page.

Acting, or discovering what felt real and true,

in the moment, with another

person, in stories that were made up.

Being a goofball, serious then silly, and

joking around with my friends.

Finding out the surprising things that made

them, and me, laugh.

And, of all of these loves, there was one that

flourished more than the others.

And maybe it was by chance, and maybe it wasn’t,

But it was the one,

the one that flourished above the others,

it was the one that, for whatever reason, I was given

the most time with, and that I didn’t somehow have

to turn into something, or take the attention

away from the discovery of the art itself,

to where that art might get me.

Potential is one of those

things that is sacrosanct.

Culture says…

It is rare.

It is special.

It is the most important thing.

It must always be fulfilled.

Showing talent, promise, or an ability to

quickly pick up on something

easily turns into the push to make

that something everything.

Pick up flute quickly.

You could become first chair,

in the orchestra, and the youngest ever.

You’re picking up dance quickly.

Can you maybe sing, too?

If you’re not going

to sing too,

then where can that dance get you, really.

Picking up speaking, in front of groups,

quickly.

Maybe you could compete on a local,

or regional debate team, and see how far you can get.

Not picking up sketching or drawing

as quickly.

Well, what is the point of doing something

if you’re not showing enough intuitive ability.

And then, over time, all of those

forms of expression are lost,

and with them, the passion and energy that

comes with creating, and expressing, for the sake of

creating and expressing.

And then there’s less aliveness in

every other area of life.

Because maybe art is worth more than

where it can get you.

Maybe it’s also about what

people discover and what it continues

to give life to.

I mostly continued writing because it was

an impulse that allowed me to create uninterrupted.

And the acting and performing that continued

with friends, continued, fueled by the chance to

be part of something, where inventiveness,

expression, and discovery, weren’t just stops

along the way to doing what, someone else thought,

was really valuable.

They were valuable in and of themselves.

And, of course, there are all these beautiful new forms

art can take, if allowed to flourish over time.

But just because it’s the form of

art that has survived, doesn’t mean, it’s the art

that I am.

That, as much as I appreciate everything that comes

from the art that has been my most consistent creative

companion,

it’s felt, lately, like there’s a chance to go back in time 

and reclaim something,

to rediscover all those  

arts-interrupted,

to pick up each one, and see

what made me feel that first spark

of life with them,

and what important

and surprising discoveries,

they might now bring to life.

~ Nika Patrice.

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