Picard, Riker, and Data meet themselves in We’ll Always Have Paris
This past week’s “a-ha” moment for me came in the form of a workshop panelist’s comment about the development of her artistic voice. Composer Wang Jie (whose bio we looked at a few weeks ago here) made a comment about how as an undergraduate she hadn’t yet “met herself.” I was struck by this phrase and asked her to elaborate.
Her thought-provoking answer has been rattling in the back of my mind ever since. It not only suggests for me a new way of understanding how we learn and develop as artists, but it also gets at how we construct our identities—our sense of self.
Wang Jie explained how she experiences studying a piece of music. That each time she comes back to a work—whether it’s 3 months or 5 years later—that she discover new aspects, new possibilities in it, as though the piece has been transformed.
In these instances, Wang Jie says that what we’re actually discovering is something new in ourselves. It’s as though each time we experience a work we are “meeting ourselves.” This concept bundles together several ideas worth considering:
a) that we are all mysteries to ourselves and need something external (a work of art as mirror) in order to reflect back on ourselves and deepen our self awareness.
b) that our identities—both artistic and personal—are not static but always in development, as we absorb and react to what we encounter.
c) that our self-esteem is bound to how we habitually perceive ourselves and measure ourselves in relation to others. Based on this measurement, we construct our self-esteem and behave accordingly as though these perceptions were objective and static positions.
This is the classic “fixed” (vs. “growth”) mindset: the work of Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: the New Psychology of Success. A Stanford professor, she’s also a leading researcher on motivation. For a quick intro read this short interview with Carol here.)
Question for the Week: How mutable is your sense of self: do you see yourself as a work in progress?
As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions. And I’d love to hear about your “a-ha” moments—especially around understanding artistic identity and development!
For info on working with me: details are HERE.
