What do I want to be remembered for?

On being useful, it is quite a distraction to the creative soul. While it is clear that art is a powerful entity in its various forms - a painting, sculpture, a pottery class, a music lesson, art therapy, doodling - all of these creative outlets to express thoughts, feelings, musings and curiosities; for an artist to practice being/to be useful is extremely counter productive, counter intuitive and unnatural. Imagine expressing sadness and being asked, “What are these tears for? How is sadness useful? How much impact can sadness make?”

This is an affirmation card that I related to the most and serves as a reminder to constantly reflect on how I want to live my life and do the work I do.

In order for tangible visually appealing, educational, provocative, enchanting, reflective, useful outputs to manifest and be placed before the world, a creative soul must first have the curiosity to venture on a path that has not been walked before and ask: “What happens if I do this?”

What happens if I plan an event this way?

What happens if I decorate bins this way?

What happens if I teach art this way?

What happens if I lead a workshop this way?

What happens if we think about buildings this way?

What happens if I talk about death this way?

What happens if we ask for commitment this way?

What happens if we look at space this way?

What happens if I resist, ask, declare, implement this way?

What happens if I ask what happens if?

Who am I if I am not useful? I refuse to be constrained by my function - an educator, facilitator, art maker. I am instead free to move between these realms and use them as my channels and contexts in which art and creativity can be used to question, challenge and mediate. In the end, to be useful is only a by-product - of a path that can only be made by walking.