Expressive art – that prioritises authentic feeling over technical polish – is the heart of my therapeutic writing practice. Which made my own response to this exhibition all the more worth examining.
Thanks for posting this, Kate. So many intriguing ideas in it. The older I get the more I sometimes think that everyone has a touch of the chancer in them....maybe the trick is to out my/our own inner chancer and take the power away from the committee in my head that tends to use anything it can to stop the creative process and belittle the very thought! The first bit of the article made me think of the JM Barrie quote "I am not young enough to know everything". Childlike but not childish. We can but try
Hamish, I love that Barrie quote – I hadn't heard that before. Yes, exactly that! Childlike but not childish. I think that's what the Buddhist beginner's mind actually is: not performing knowing or not-knowing, but staying genuinely curious and open.
And you're right about the inner committee. Maybe "chancer" is just another word it uses to keep us small – like self-centredness, which makes reclaiming it feel quietly radical.
An honest and interesting post, Kate. Perhaps it raises more questions than it answers. I suspect any answers will be subjective and personal, but the questions themselves are where the real value of an exhibition lies.
I think the power lies in being free to ask ourselves and each other these questions. From this place – owning and trusting our capacity to explore and hold our own and others' complexities and contradictions – a place of authentic understanding, trust and connection grows.
Thanks for posting this, Kate. So many intriguing ideas in it. The older I get the more I sometimes think that everyone has a touch of the chancer in them....maybe the trick is to out my/our own inner chancer and take the power away from the committee in my head that tends to use anything it can to stop the creative process and belittle the very thought! The first bit of the article made me think of the JM Barrie quote "I am not young enough to know everything". Childlike but not childish. We can but try
Hamish, I love that Barrie quote – I hadn't heard that before. Yes, exactly that! Childlike but not childish. I think that's what the Buddhist beginner's mind actually is: not performing knowing or not-knowing, but staying genuinely curious and open.
And you're right about the inner committee. Maybe "chancer" is just another word it uses to keep us small – like self-centredness, which makes reclaiming it feel quietly radical.
I like 'quietly radical', Kate 👌 Like a polite revolution 😆
An honest and interesting post, Kate. Perhaps it raises more questions than it answers. I suspect any answers will be subjective and personal, but the questions themselves are where the real value of an exhibition lies.
Couldn’t agree more! 🫶🏼
I think the power lies in being free to ask ourselves and each other these questions. From this place – owning and trusting our capacity to explore and hold our own and others' complexities and contradictions – a place of authentic understanding, trust and connection grows.