I was talking to my friend Ariel about releasing art. When I work on something for a long time, it can feel hard to let it go. Or I feel like I need to mark the occasion.
It made me remember when I was a kid in a play. It was a big deal, the whole process from trying out for a part, getting picked, memorizing lines, rehearsal, and performing. All the drama with drama.
Then after closing night, when we cleaned up and left, thanked and congratulated…. At home in bed, winding down, I would feel this deep sadness with my exhaustion. What next? For days, my heart would ache with loss and disorientation.
It happened with musical performances too. I was a bassoonist for many years. We practiced songs intensely. Would I ever play them again? When the performance was over, it would be hard to let go. I felt an emptiness.
ritual
I made a new poetry zine. Yesterday I photocopied it–hat genius 24. I made the first few copies today, when I made the machinable original to bring to our real printers.
I thought of a ritual to do when finishing an art. It’s not a whole long ritual with making a circle, welcoming the directions, and singing songs. It’s simple.
- addressing the art
- thanking it for coming into the world
- thanking it for what I learned by making it
- releasing art into the world
I did this process, speaking to my new zine, over polo to show Ariel. It was like this.
Thank you, beautiful, meaningful art, for allowing me to create you. Thank you for allowing me to pull you into this world from the other world. I worked so hard on you.
Thank you for what I learned while creating you. Bringing these poems together from the past year, I learned about my own feelings about love, relationship, abuse, and how my perceptions change over time.
I don’t know how other people will receive you, and I don’t have a lot of control over that. But I believe in you, and I love you. You were worth making, and I hope someone else is helped by you.
I feel grateful that I made this beautiful art no other person could make. Thank you for carrying my truth. I release you into the world.
Felt good to speak these words. I kissed the zine also. Even though I was doing this as an example to show Ariel, it felt helpful to me.
share
Another idea I had was to share the art with one specific person who might be helped by it. So as opposed to just broadcasting a post to the whole world, thinking who might specially enjoy the art, and sharing it with them.
Yet another idea I had was to look at my own art as a dream. As some people say that everything in your dream is you, maybe to look at the art as a reflection of self, and gain self-knowledge.
