Sienna Bentley
This article started out as a journal entry in my morning pages, which I have been trying to do consistently to nurture my inner artist. In the pages I was talking about how excited I am for my upcoming trip to Oslo. I haven’t been to my family’s native Norway for a long time and I can’t wait to spend some quality time with my friend. I wrote:
I’m looking forward to having my feet on the cold ground and hopefully feeling like I’m home. Not to mention the creative content that we can get out of the trip.
The first sentence, I think, is rather beautiful. Then I ruined it with the thoughts that have been essentially dominating my mind for months. I continued:
That’s just how my brain works now. Looking at everything from a content angle. I can’t decide whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.
It’s likely a bit of both. In a way, it encourages me to notice things (although, this, I’d argue, is a skill I picked up from studying art at school) and to think critically and strategically. It highlights my dedication to the magazine and my passion for creativity.
But I wonder if it is also a little sad. Am I missing out on simply experiencing beautiful things and living in the moment if I’m too busy thinking about how to turn said moment into something else?
As the parent of this magazine, it is down to me to shape the direction of the platform, think of content ideas and be consistent in my efforts. While I love doing this – I wouldn’t have founded it if I didn’t – I’m learning that it’s vital to switch off sometimes.
In my opinion, for artists in particular, it’s crucial to notice things. See beyond the surface and look for beauty in unexpected places. If the way you do this is by thinking about content ideas, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. As an art student, I looked at everything and thought of how it could become art, which has trained my eye to focus on the unusual. There is something quite beautiful about turning even seemingly mundane things into art and I like that I endeavour to do this. This also makes you look at things differently; if I know that I’m going to write an article about something, the way that I view this thing shifts – my eye is sharper, more critical. I’m encouraged to form opinions, recognise my likes and dislikes and analyse why I have these feelings.
However, thinking a certain way for a long period of time and being unable to shake a mindset is potentially damaging. If I cannot switch off and my brain is constantly thinking about content ideas, for example, I will become overly comfortable in that process and it will be a challenging habit to break. It will be on my mind even when I am trying to relax and enjoy an experience – like Oslo. This is a problem for several reasons. The first is burnout. Your brain cannot be ‘on’ forever. It will take the joy out of things that are supposed to calm and relax you. The second is that the effect could end up being completely reversed. If I’m always looking at things and wondering how they can become something else, am I then taking the existing beauty away? Some things, sometimes, should just be left as they are. I also run the risk of losing my passion. Too much repetition, in anything, becomes tiring, boring and cyclical.
Ultimately, I think it’s about striking the right balance – appreciating when the artist in you notices something extraordinary and recognising the effect that it has on you as an individual, but also being able to properly switch off and enjoy the moment as it happens. Creative ideas that form as a result of this experience are a bonus and should absolutely be nurtured.
It’s also okay to go into something with the plan that you will create something from it, for example, going to a museum with a view to writing a review afterwards. As I said before, this encourages you to form opinions and look closely and critically at your subject rather than just casting an eye over it and forgetting about it later.
Finally, part of it is also being able to trust in yourself and your own imagination. I sometimes fear that my imagination is limited and walled when it should be a vast expanse. This makes me work overtime to come up with original ideas all the time; now this has become normal and something I’m struggling to shift. Trust that ideas will flow naturally as this will enable you to enjoy the moment and possibly make something out of it later.
