One of my favorite phrases is "the Good Work." I mean, the creative work. For me this has meant music, writing, theater. It's pretty open-ended. Work that gets you into something else. You put yourself, your mind, your body, all your mental and physical resources into creating something that didn't before exist. This is what I call a "flow activity," something that so engages all the senses that you lose yourself in the doing. Anyone can do it. It is recommended.
The Good Work is also working on yourself. You know, introspection, discovering who you are. "Know Thyself." It really is a lifetime project. We are all moving targets. Alive on a spinning planet. We don't choose our time to be born, or the era in which we live, but we must find our way in a strange and wonderful, and challenging land. A death-defying adventure: Life.
This morning, I came across an artist named Ree Morton, these lines are from her application for a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1976. "I learned to use power tools and to know the difference between needing help and just thinking I did." Also this: "I learned to take myself seriously. I learned to not take myself THAT seriously."
Yes. It's that kind of juggling act. The art of navel-gazing. To explore yourself, to understand your ideas, motives, emotions, pains, struggles, faults, flaws, etc. To take your self seriously, and to do the good, serious, work. To make choices. To try to make yourself a better Human.
And at the same time to not be too serious, or precious in the process. I woke up this morning with the idea of being "Radically Hopeful." Seems like an important choice. But really there is a whole list of radical qualities I'd like to aspire to:
Radically...
