ART AND CREATIVE SELF EXPRESSION
HOW DO YOU EXPRESS YOURSELF?
ARE YOU EXPRESSING YOUR TRUE AUTHENTIC SELF? OR... ARE YOU EXPRESSING YOURSELF ACCORDING TO HOW YOU THINK OTHERS WANT YOU TO EXPRESS YOURSELF?
AUTHENTICY IS TRUE FREEDOM!
Art, hobbies, and self-expression are useful tools to learn and express who we truly are. I believe as "Living Artists"... we all express ourselves, communicate, and create things that have a deeper meaning (Essence) from within us that we desire to express to the world.
Weather we are consciously doing it or not, we choose and do everything based on how we feel in each moment. Some will understand the "language / mediums" that we choose to use and some will not. The evolution of the "True Artesian" is when we realize that everything we do is "Art / Self Expression".
For my work during most of my journey, I have been using my hands in building and creating various things. Over the last 6 years I taught myself how to make Macramé Accessories, Wire Jewelry, Dream Catchers, Hammocks, Clothes, and Weaved projects in a quest to become Self-employed and remain independent of the 9-5 grind to survive.
In many different ways, these projects helped me tremendously in handling the many down sides of the "Homeless Wanderer" lifestyle choice I had made and gave me the external means to see "my-self" in these creative expressions.
One thing I realized from this was that through everything we "do", the cloths and colors we dress with, our cooking, accessories, crafts, tattoos, hair style, words, and much more in our body language... we are constantly "Expressing Ourselves" and these can be various opportunities to become aware of who we are.
It seems that we are continuously unconsciously trying to figure out who we are through what we "do" (external expression and actions)... and it is through what we do that we express our-selves, our creativity, and in many ways can figure out "Who we are on the inside" by observing these expressions.
The journey here is to figure out how we can express ourselves fully and freely in a way that creates a complete image of the complexities of who we think we are and express that to the outside world. All of which to express ourselves so that other people can understand us and give us the feedback loop we need for self-awareness.
Though we are speaking a kind of "Subconscious language" through what we are saying and expressing (Symbology / Emotional Language / Word meanings) it seems that we seek to inspire others to see us in the various forms we exist in.
Once we come to understand the various ways we are communicating with others, we are able to mold our external expressions in a way that is Authentic to our "Inner selves", by which communicating ourselves fully and freely with each person we interact with.
This process can potentially open an entirely new platform of Self-Awareness through the innumerous ways for us to be able to understand the aspects our psyche that we may not be able to reach in our Conscious day to day lives.
To me... "Art"... is a type of external expression of our "inner world / soul / state of mind" that we use different mediums of communication to express ourselves (Un-consciously most of the time). We do this by using different natural symbols to create feelings inside someone else and within ourselves to express how we feel inside.
To communicate... in a way of looking at it. Like trying to say "This is the Real me... and this is what I am about... do you see me?". The growth comes when we look back over our Art / Expression and see "Our-self". Is it systematic, chaotic, orderly, ridged, curvy, colorful, habitual, distorted, busy, simple, etc...?
There is a lot of information that could be shared here about these questions, as far as "Symbolic Language meanings", Color theory, Patterns of Human Behavior, Architypes of the Psyche, and various ways to observe the external expressions in our work, things we choose, brands we wear, and ways we carry yourself. Yet, where I am going with it is that it can almost be an endless journey of self-discovery, if followed, and we can "Learn who we truly are" through our "Art / Self-expressions".
In doing this observational work, we will learn how to see our pain, our love, our ways of thinking, and so much more when we learn what the symbols, colors, imperfections, and various patterns we use and express mean.
The answer I have come to understand and express in my own life is to... LIVE FREE.
Express yourself fully in everything you do. Live from a space and mindset that is inspired (Transparent expressions). To face yourself in it ("good" and "bad") and learn from it, which is a great opportunity for doing "Shadow work"... working through past traumas and conditionings that are blockages and hinderances in becoming who you truly are and are destined to be.
The journey of any Artist is to express themselves Authentically and fully in their expressions. To be heard, seen, and understood... all of which in an attempt to understand and communicate ourselves.
The most important question to ask here is...
WHO ARE YOU?