I was once talking to a client who told me she couldn’t fathom not having a purpose. It was her way to be seen. For 17 years she had kept a journal analysing the essence of her artistic practice, arguing that self-representation requires serving a specific purpose. She had written profusely about where she yearned to be that she never stepped into it. What if she had written her journal after setting her sail into waters unknown?
While I do agree that goals in life are necessary to move forward, I chuckle at having to label every one of our endeavours. Making sense of everything we do can countereffect the very meaning of a creative initiative: to have fun. We do sometimes forget to have fun as it comes hand in hand with the sentiment of guilt for not making the best out of what’s-in-the-making.
We forget to play.
But—an enormous part of feeling accomplished in what we have set out to do, is to affix fun attributes to it. It is to soothe us, on the inside. Not everything should serve a purpose, the endeavour is what matters, and mostly, having fun. What if the purpose was going inward?
Since I have been speaking Thai, a world that was once unknown revealed itself to me. It is different to read about things in the native tongue they were written. And it is quite singular to search for them in their original language. One of such fated discoveries was that of Princess Sirivannavari’s สมเด็จพระเจ้าลูกเธอ เจ้าฟ้าสิริวัณณวรี new collection. Yes, the Princess is an accomplished designer, but that didn’t exclude play and discovery from the equation. Both were part of a journey inward. To put it precisely, it is the journey inward that triggered the explorations that became later the inspiration for the art.
There is charm in seeking the unknown. Inserting the first needle in the fabric and let it guide the movements of the fingers against the patch. Seeking paths without planning them in advance—and treading on those unbeaten paths and witness them unfold as we march forward.
Sometimes, we seek purpose so hard even when it doesn’t serve us. Out of voyages discoveries are born. The type of voyages that forces us to look beyond the fringes of our known world—and I don’t mean the fringes of the physical world.
If I start a project with a definite goal in mind, I am limiting myself to what the project allows me to explore. But, if I set out on a journey with no bias or preconceived opinions as to what is possible and what isn’t, I am allowing myself a broader spectrum to explore. And while the vastness of the celestial expanse is tantalisingly captivating, there is a whole world to explore under the mere surface of the water—as above so below, as outward so inward. To ascent, one must have experienced the dip.
To venture for the sake of venture, to write for the sake of writing, to create for the sake of creating, without pressure, without the heavy gaze of the world. Those are woven into a belief system that we have to carefully build around ourselves, as we look inward—as we become ourselves fully.
This message tells us to allow some risk into our lives. A purpose can wait to reveal itself; the journey, we mustn’t delay. When we do not, we allow our inner selves—and our practice, the outward creation—to flourish.
Only then, our joy is complete.
—R.