When did you Stop…?
Written by Lian Brook-Tyler.
The painting is ‘Flow’ by the ridiculously talented Samantha Hurst of I Am Om Art
When did you stop?
When did you stop writing?
Those words that flowed from your soul like a river dappled with the light of innocence. Did the river run dry?
When did you stop drawing?
From soft graphite hearts, and the infinite curves of consciousness to boardroom doodles to a blank white page. Did the pencil lead blunt?
When did you stop making your music?
The made-up melodies, the lucid lyrics, the banging beats, the soundtrack to your life. From making to hearing to not even listening. Did the needle lose its groove?
When did you stop moving?
Skipping, stretching, sprinting, asanas, six-hour sex sessions and somersaults. Dancing like no-one is watching to dancing only if the moves are right to not dancing at all. Did you do all the possible moves?
When did you stop exploring?
Exploring for the excitement of exploring? Learning for the love of learning? Playing for the pleasure of playing. Seeking for the sake of seeking? No goal, no prize, no acclaim – just because there’s a wide open space full of wonders which no-one has yet chartered. Did you reach the end?
I stopped at 15…
…when I realised that people didn’t want or need my ideas, my creations, my moves, my freedom, my laughter, my questions or my differences. That stuff wouldn’t fit in the box that had my name on it. So I stopped. I neatly folded my limitlessness and I climbed into that tiny box.
For years I worked hard at fitting shiny cars, pretty clothes and expensive houses neatly into the box with me.
Then one day, I started unfolding.
Quietly. Slowly. Softly.
Allowing small lines, shapes and ideas flow from my mind, body, mouth and fingers and escape from the box. Carefully in case they were seen. No… In case I was seen. Seen wasting my time, shamefully, in a place where only real artists create art and only real explorers explore.
There is no box
And then in a single moment I realised there is no box. I’d simply fallen into a delirium of hallucinations about the importance of fitting into a box.
Then it was clear… we are all artists and we are all explorers. It’s why we are here. And we are all limitless.
So now I create art and I explore.
How about you?
Love,
Lian xo