A friend likes to greet me with, “What is your story?” It is his way of cutting through the small talk and being present in every conversation. I am always thankful to be asked this, and it has defined our friendship for years, giving it a premise (and promise) of “I am interested in you, and I acknowledge that your story changes.”
Over the weekend I had the grace to flesh out my story now, at age 33, and as always, my answers began with even more questions:
- Where is home? Where do I want it to be? Why?
- How will I build a new home? Who will be there with me?
- What kind of art will I create? What is art, really?
- Will I be able to live on art in the Philippines?
- If community is at the core of my art, how essential is leaving and living abroad to my process? Where do I thrive?
- How does one study art?
The big questions, those outside of me, also joined in:
- If this is an exciting time to be alive because science and spirit are finally meeting, what is the work to be done now?
- What is needed?
- Where am I needed?
I’ve been at the threshold of big changes for a while now, and it’s easy to fall into perfection paralysis, but it’s the questioning that sharpens what needs sharpening and thrusts what needs thrusting.
How about you? What is your story? What are your questions?