Art and the true power of intention
How museums and art galleries taught me to be intentional
Me and the word intention have beef and it’s mostly the internet’s fault. In fact, I’m beefing with “gaslighting” , “healing journey”, “toxic”…the list of words and phrases that I “highkey” cringe at when heard is long and exhaustive. While I know I can’t blame the internet entirely, I can definitely blame social media. As much as I want to pin this on the Tiktok therapists and Instagram wellness gurus, the truth is, the overuse and misuse of these buzzwords fall on everyone — from the facebook aunties to the ig baddies, we’re all complicit. So here we are settling into the new year with resolutions and statements like “set your intentions”, “be intentional” and I can’t escape it, intention is everywhere. Sitting down to write this, is me waving my white flag; peacefully settling my differences with intention and admitting that despite my annoyance with the trite language at the tips of every finger typing on the internet, last year, being intentional was actually my thing.
2023 was a year of intention and constant reflection for me. I found myself checking in often. As a young only child that played with Transformers with my imaginary friends, being alone with just my thoughts was something I was used to. Last year felt different though. It was more visceral, it was more, I hate to say it…intentional. Whether it was the actions of the day or something I did two years ago, I reflected daily. It became obsessive. My shower thoughts, my morning drive to work, my prayers were all consumed by this constant mode of reflection. I was building and tearing down new narratives about myself everyday. I was journaling more. The pages began to look like sketches — drafts by an artist fleshing out the details of their next piece. I was constantly writing and editing my thoughts, the words felt like lyrics, the lyrics felt like solace. I entered therapy. I spent session after session, digging and unpacking some of my deepest character flaws. I began learning more about myself because even as a grown ass adult there’s still things to uncover. I confronted things about myself that I believed I was a victim of, only to find out I was the actual culprit — like how my people pleasing can be interpreted as a form of manipulation. I found myself facing the inconvenient and uncomfortable truths about myself at red lights in between episodes of my favorite podcasts. I swallowed hard pill after hard pill. Reflection taught me how much I was complicit in my own sabotage. Eventually the reflection informed my thinking and movements and that’s when I found myself becoming exactly what annoyed me the most, I started to become intentional. Therapy, journaling and prayer were staples but there was an unexpected source that taught me the true power of intention and that was art.
I’ve lived in DC over a decade and here was all this, what we call, “free game” waiting to be soaked up at museums less than a 30 minute drive from my house. It wasn’t until I started taking my girlfriend on cute museum dates that I actually took advantage of the free admission to the Smithsonian’s. After a couple visits, the museums and galleries became less about appearing to be artsy and more about stepping away from the experience with deeper understanding and an appreciation for the life I was living. We would spend hours looking at art — hearts filled with love, eyes filled with curiosity.
There was a Toni Morrison quote from the Phillips Collection that read “your life is already artful - waiting, just waiting, for you to make it art.” These words affected me. My life is art. My life has passion. It is thematic. I should handle it the same way artist do. Artists are intentional about their work even when it appears otherwise, nothing is done by chance. The details of every piece has been carefully and thoughtfully chosen. They don’t just haphazardly settle on the instruments and the medium they use. They approach their art from every possible angle. What happens when you start approaching your life like this? What happens when you explore life, the same way you do art? What happens when you take just an extra 5 mins, or even 30 seconds to reflect and pursue a path of intention. When I started to move with intention I felt a type of freedom I have never experienced. It felt like James Baldwin during his time in Turkey, I was penning my own masterpiece as if I had just liberated myself from my own thoughts.
“Your life is already artful - waiting, just waiting, for you to make it art.” -Toni Morrison
Museums and art galleries became my favorite teachers. It was like that one class in high school you actually enjoyed going to because you knew the teacher was “fun”; they not only taught you history or science, they found subtle ways to teach you about life. I was learning about life and I was learning about myself. Art taught me forgiveness. Art taught me how to allow myself grace for what I believed were some of my lowest moments and deepest regrets. We look at art and we interpret it with such a vast amount of possibilities. We step into it with such an open mind. We look at the museum label and we’re given context about when it was made, how it was made and by whom. When we apply that way of thinking and that context to our own life and actions we are provided an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of self. I realized I misinterpreted some of my life, and the lesson I received — it’s still art even with misinterpretation.
If you looked at your life as a piece of art - what feelings are you trying to evoke from others? What message are you trying to send to the audience? What methods are you using? What colors do you see? My life is art and so is yours. Take a moment and be intentional about your life.
Thank you!! I hate that I’ve lived here so long and hadn’t taken advantage of all the great art
This was such a beautiful reflection. Museum dates are top tier 🤎