The importance of intentional thought & understanding
As much as I enjoy creating, there is something far sweeter about recognizing yourself in someone else's creation. Art is a reflection of our minds and personal perceptions of the world and the actions of those around us. We are all unique, which is why we crave the validation of being understood while simultaneously fearing that form of truest perception. We all want to be seen, but allowing yourself to be openly perceived is possibly one of the most difficult feats for many. This is one reason many people turn to art, in all its forms.
I began keeping a small journal, something personal to me that I carry with me everywhere. Any time I see something that triggers thought, maybe a quote from a book or a quick zap of emotion, I express it in that journal. I fill the pages with the colors of my mind, and since I started practicing this I have noticed so much more in myself as well as in the people around me. Understanding yourself is essential to understanding others, and the only way to understand yourself is to open up to the opportunity of deep triggering thought. This is not the same as overthinking, which can be a slippery slope. This intentional practice is the act of noticing thought, and mentally controlling your response. Creating the mental reality that grounds you, that is right for you. When I notice myself overthinking, over time, I have been able to stop myself and internally explain to this part of my brain that the script I’ve created in my mind is not that of real life. It’s simply uncontrolled thought and scrambled emotions. And in this, the only way out is through. Learning to break down emotions and their triggering thoughts and understand the ‘why,’ or the root of the feeling, is no easy task, but the reward of understanding is true gold. This is the difference between knowing and understanding.
My favorite thing to add to my journal is quotes, some I have come up with, but many are from books and posts online. Adding these wisdoms and reminders to what I consider to be the physical rendition of my own mind creates a sense of comfort because I know that if someone else explained so beautifully what I felt, they felt it too. Because it feels good to be understood. Intentionally provoking deep and introspective thought is, in my experience, the greatest form of self-care and growth. I watch many, many movies for a similar reason. In nearly any film, there is something personally relatable. Whether it be made obvious in children's movies, teaching a direct message, or in a small detail of a character that is mirrored within yourself. Finding relation in art can allow us to better understand our own actions, intentions, and values, and help us to untangle unkempt thoughts, while creating art can assist in expressing those that we are just beginning to understand. In witnessing similarity, we feel free to embrace the unique parts of ourselves, and we feel safe in all of the tiny details that make us into our own individual units. In witnessing abstraction, we feel free to create our own.
Music, film, photo, performance, discussion, writing, drawing- all and more double as self-expression and a direct line to introspective thought. There is a calm in being lost within your own mind, your own world, while knowing that you are linked to the beautiful minds of others. We are not alone, we are ourselves.
