I find my art practice has its own rhythms, and I’m not always great at continuing to be in touch with people to keep them up with what’s happening. It’s especially like this when I’m starting new projects. I need to go into myself, and I find it hard to share publicly and be ‘out there’ at the same time that I’m incubating a new idea. Twyla Tharp, the choreographer, calls this “scratching”, and I really like that. It’s feels like I’m sniffing around, looking, listening, picking up things in the culture and that are on my mind, but that I don’t have exact questions for yet or an artistic form. It can be an uncomfortable place to be, but I’ve gotten better at being there, and sitting with that feeling of not knowing what’s next. Because I know eventually there will be movement, as long as I keep moving forward with curiosity. It’s definitely a type of play, and I’m getting better at it the more I allow myself to practice it.
I think this sense of movement, rhythms, and play can apply to many of us, no matter what is occupying our day to day. How do we move forward with curiosity in our lives, in the midst of what can often feel like the daily grind? It feels crucial for me; this sense of curiosity, continually pushing oneself, even a little bit, to do something new, to let oneself play.
I’m in a waiting period with Play Passages right now too (waiting to hear about a number of grants), and I’m “scratching” another new project that I can’t share yet. I hope to have more news to share soon.
Meanwhile, how are you moving forward with curiosity and play in your daily lives? What are your creative rhythms?