Some readers already know that I keep a visual journal. I have been keeping it for decades, and most days I make several entries. The journal has become a daily ritual, so I have accumulated and cataloged thousands of small mixed media works over the years. Sometimes I will share an entry online and occasionally include some in various exhibitions. Numerous works have been purchased by various collectors or institutions and are geographically dispersed. I once had a dear friend spend a weekend in my apartment while I was traveling to examine as many as he could. Part of what makes this body of work so compelling is its mere size and the inability of anyone to comprehend it in its entirety.
I don’t think of myself as a very secretive person, but there are certain entries that I don’t show anyone and certain entries I destroy shortly after making them. This may seem odd, but it is getting harder and harder to have private moments. In this high-tech world we are either sharing our life on social media or being recorded and monitored by the devices we use.
I don’t destroy or keep certain entries private out of shame or embarrassment, but rather as a way of cultivating a private internal life. Keeping some of our feelings, aspirations and ideas private is largely a forgotten part of a healthy internal life.
Kurt Vonnegut once responded to an inquiry from a high school student that was published by the Huffington Post and illuminates this issue. Vonnegut first implored the student to start making art and continue making art for the rest of his life. He then gave the student a specific assignment to write a six-line poem and to make it as good as possible. He then told the student not to read it aloud or share the poem with anyone. Rather tear it up into hundreds of pieces and distribute the fragments in several garbage cans that are placed far apart. He explains this process comes with its own reward and is a part of “becoming” self-aware and “growing” one’s soul. We all need to cultivate a private internal life.
per ususal….loved your blog today David….always thought provoking….the Vonnegut lesson reminded me of another idea r/t to GROWING ONE’S OWN SOUL….I’m not sure I agree that it is the soul, but simplyabout the self awareness you mention and life hacks….the soul is strictly spiritual in my way of thinking….there is another concept I was taught….do something kind or thoughtful for somebody today and KEEP IT TO YOURSELF (same idea), but it relates to grooming the soul towards HUMILITY….not advancing ones artistic intellect….not to sound demeaning as I understand that teachers use similar tools….just taking another perspective on how teachers deliver lessons….also….I watched THE ANDY WARHOL DIARIES on NETFLIX recently….it was almost overwhelming… a very intense series on art, the making of it, and the American lifestyle