Doing What I Never Do

Tonight I did what I never do. Charles invited me to an art exhibit, and I accepted! And not only did I go, but I loved it. I thought I was going to see the sculpture of a particular artist, but it turned out to be the 2007 Undergraduate Exhibition of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The original and incredibly diverse works of a couple hundred students filled two huge floors of a loft-style building, and by the time we left, there was a line of people at the door waiting to get in.

I loved some of it, didn't love some of it, and some of it left me indifferent. But the students themselves were captivating ~ I found it impossible to be indifferent to them. Their energy, enthusiasm, and originality swirled through the crowded and overheated space, filling it with some fundamentally funkified vibe. And it got me thinking about what completely excites and entrances me.

First is truthfulness. I love people speaking truth...their truth, the ultimate truth, the final truth, the relative truth, the unexpected truth, my truth, the scary truth, the comforting truth, the whole truth. I do love it most when it surprises me, touches me and makes me laugh.

And second is originality. I love the original expression of energy. I don't particularly care how it emerges - what it looks like - I just love when I see it, hear it, experience it. I love when someone, anyone, brings something new into the world, into my awareness, into my sense of possibility. And it doesn't happen all that often, so it's an especially valuable commodity. I love when some original energy emerges because after that, everything changes.

So it was great to step into a space full of so many varieties of truth and originality. I don't know if this means I'll start going to museums. In museums there so often a sense of how you're supposed to value the art they've already chosen for you. But I think I might give a bit more of this a try. See what being around creative, original energy inspires.