Moving Pieces

Moving: transfer, A to B, process, progress, change, movement.

Pieces: places, items, things, people, spaces.

It’s been a crazy month! Or few months, on top of the mad Covid year. With so many moving pieces. Moving to online tuition, moving Inner Art Studio to new premises, moving to a new website, and moving between homeschooling and school.

On a weary afternoon when standing in the chaos of undone jobs, boxes of studio equipment, absent handymen, incomplete admin and piles of rubbish at the half-made new Inner Art Studio, I thought about how similar life is to the process of making artwork.

When creating artwork we experience the chaos of unfinished structures, partial ideas, waxing and waning motivation, practical limitations and discarded drafts. It can feel frustrating, bewildering and disorientating. And the same goes for our lives.

I reminded myself “this is life, this is what it’s all about!” There isn’t an easier, magically smooth pathway somewhere else that we should be on... this it it, right here and now. The moving pieces are part of the process of transformation. The feeling of instability isn’t a “bad thing”, it’s just an experience.

So where do we look for stability? Can we find grounding in the midst of moving pieces? Whether we’re moving between locations, jobs, relationships, beliefs, or in the middle of creating artwork... is there a way to soothe the process?

Trust the process, trust the chaos, trust the grey areas. We know things will fall into place - we’ve seen it happen before. We know happy accidents, lucky coincidences, and moments of relief are just around the corner - they’ve happened to us before.

But it’s usually only when we loosen our white knuckle hands that are gripping the steering wheel for dear life, throw our hands up in the air and enjoy the ride that we get to experience the magic of movement. Embracing the exhilaration of moving pieces creates it excitement and freedom. Then we tap into a life force which far exceeds of own anxious efforts and controlling habits, and things happen which we could only dream of.

So whatever A to B journey we're on, take a deep breath and let go of the steering wheel!