What Abstract Art Can Teach Us About Setting Goals and Finding Purpose
“What do you want out of life?”
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“What kind of person do you want to be?”
Derivatives of this question have been asked of us by others and ourselves at every stage of our lives. There are a few issues with questions like this. First, the issue of time. Our perception of time is completely absurd. A 30-minute meeting, or a 1-minute plank, can feel like an eternity but a week long vacation can go by in a flash. So when we’re faced with the question of what we want to “do” or “be” we’re considering the answer within the constraints of that moment we’re living in, and therefore too narrow a window to think about long-term, meaningful change that we’re seeking. You cannot be conscious of yourself at any other point, past or present, than right now.
The second issue is that we often assume that the answers to these questions are things. Whether that’s a job title, a luxury car, a new home, the latest phone, or even a skill/trade/college major. All of these are constructs of the Anthropocene (the geologic timeframe that began when humans first adopted agriculture, approx. 12,000–15,000 BC). Your brain is somewhere around 200,000 years old. “Things” do not fill that void in your chest that cause you to seek meaning in your life. They are just tools with a specific function. They can add value, but not meaning or purpose.
Unfortunately, we live in a very specific time where the culture of our society (in the US at least) hijacks the language around meaning to sell us stuff. It’s so pervasive that we notice only a fraction of it. Because of this, we end up trying to fill those big “meaning of life” questions with the things that have been sold to us to address that meaning. But fear not, there is hope.
Art can have no purpose other than its own existence which is why it’s been used to communicate truth since we first started painting on cave walls. Abstract art seeks to convey truth absent of the baggage that familiar imagery brings to a work. To see an abstract painting, you focus on the piece as a whole and listen to what the relationships between all of the elements of color, texture, movement, light and shadow within the piece. More importantly though, you need to bring in the context of the moment in time it was created. It’s a hard thing to do and usually why most people “hate” or “don’t get” abstract art. And that’s ok.
But what happens when we prescribe the same method of seeing an abstract painting to helping answer the question of what we want to do or be? First, answer the question however you want. If that means describing a life in which you own a specific car, do a specific job, live in a specific place then by all means create that life in as much detail as you can. Once you’ve written that out just go away for a couple of days or a week.
When you come back to your answer, analyze it the same way as an abstract piece of art. Observe all of the elements that make up your answer. Consider the relationships between all of the pieces of your life that you described. Write down the feelings and sensations that are stirred up, try to tap into why those specific elements made up your answer.
Does the answer produce a complete work that frames a purpose for you?
What’s missing from the story or what’s there that doesn’t need to be?
Next, you have to consider the context of your answer. Where you are at that exact moment in your life. Are those feelings and sensations you experienced while reading your answer entirely absent in your life, or are they just manifested differently than what you have written down? Our purpose isn’t explicitly derived from those feelings, rather those feelings act as guidance in directing us towards our purpose.
There are 7.5 billion people in the world and every single one of us has an entirely unique experience, and therefore, and entirely unique purpose. To look for meaning outside of yourself is like trying to find meaning in one painting by just taking it from another. Inspiration can be taken from other works of art but once it’s processed and filtered through the life experience of the artist, that new work is an entirely unique expression of truth.
Creating art is about having the vulnerability to take this piece of yourself and yeet it into the cold, harsh reality of our world. Successful art is art that owns its truth, that is authentic, in spite of the world around it. Treat your life as a piece of art by being vulnerable, honest and authentic. Identify the feelings, sensations and instincts that drive you, follow them without fear or shame, and through that process purpose is revealed.
