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February — Did you ever take the Meyers-Briggs test? I think it has been around since the 1940’s but I remember it being a “thing” when I was in and fresh out of college in the early 1990’s. I don’t remember my type — I took it multiple times and didn’t always get the same result, but my first letter was always an “I” for “Introvert.” (For the record, this has nothing to do with how much a person likes being around people, but how much energy they expend in social interactions.) I’ve been feeling a very strong urge to introvert lately, to retreat behind closed doors and just make stuff. Which must be why this popular Pinterest quote caught my attention: Artists are people driven by the tension between the desire to communicate and the desire to hide.
D.W. Winnicott
Introversion seems to be common among creative types. Which makes sense — so much creative works is solitary it helps to be comfortable being alone. But while the creative drive may come from within, art is essentially directed outward. Art is a form of communication. A work’s full realization is in the interplay between the work and the observer, listener, reader . . . a “finished” piece is incomplete until it is experienced. I haven’t exactly been hiding away, and I’ve also had a good amount of time in the studio this month. So I’m not sure why I keep fantasizing about a space tucked away, really away, up in the mountains somewhere. But it’s always worth taking a look at strong feelings and putting them in the context of our lives and personalities. As usual, I guess, it comes down to balance. Maybe I need to tinker with my scheduling to allow a little more time alone in the studio, while understanding — and acting on, the principle that seclusion is not the secret to inner peace. Wholeness can only be found in being actively part of the world. I have to keep reminding myself of this, it’s practically become a mantra. If you’re an “I,” you can probably relate. At any rate, I wish you all fulfilling participation.
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