Day 9: 30 Days of Words

Day 9: 30 Days of Words

Kusama, Dots, Introspection

Hah, nine days in and I *finally* feel inspired/motivated to actually write something. It was a rollercoaster, wonderful, surprise-filled day.

As it's the last week of the InfiniteKusama exhibit at the Hirshhorn, it is kind of my last chance to go- and I've been DYING to go. I love dots and wonder and color. It's really that simple. 

THIS IS MY HEAVEN! 

After waiting in line for two hours, I missed getting a ticket by easily 150 people. Bummed and cold, I didn't want to waste a trip downtown, and figured I'd see some stuff before going back. I popped in to see the Constitution, since I just finished a freelance assignment about it. I turned uptown to go to my fave taco joint, posting on FB that I missed getting a ticket. A friend of a friend, as it turns out, has a super Kusama pass and had one extra ticket, if I could be back in 20 minutes. DONE.

Hi, it's me, Infinite dork.

So, the Kusama exhibit was BEAUTIFUL, and colorful, and timeless, and youthful, and vibrant, and alive. I loved her weird, sculptural forms, and paintings. Dots. Dots everywhere. Dot explosion. Dots of every color and shape and size. The mirror rooms are also incredible because they convey such a unique sense of being in another world. The rooms themselves are beautiful, but all the more wonderful because you, the visitor, gets to be transported to another world. An unending, bright, reflective world. You don't just see the art, you get to experience it and step inside of it.

Which is why I loved the Obliteration room probably most of all. Every visitor to the all-white room gets a sheet of colorful dots to stick everywhere. People come up with some super creative places to stick their dots, making cups pour multi-colored liquid, holding kids up on chairs and shoulders to put them as high as possible, making colorful spines on books. The room is like an explosion of happiness.

I think I love this picture the most.

 A stranger in a coffee shop described the exhibit to me as "life-affirming," and while I wouldn't quite put it that way, I did leave feeling curious and connected, wondering about entire infinities inspired by small, colorful specks.

So then, after my whimsical morning, I headed to a class led by a fascinating woman, who founded the all-women's business classes I took last year. Promising art, breathing, and connection, I signed up months ago and more or less forgot. (Thank you, past Turnbullet, for knowing that today's Tbullet needed some love.)

One of the activities we did involved coloring...thinking about the Kusama exhibit, I colored lots of bright dots and swirls. Others made scribbles, or shapes, I made colorful blobs. Then, we went around the room and wrote what each "masterpiece" made us think of. When I got back to mine, people described, with perfect accuracy, how I felt when I made my activity: bright, joyful, happy, energetic.

This is something I talk about with my therapist a lot, that I am so often wound up, anxious, angry, and closed off, and that people can just sense it and they don't know what to do with that emotion. I mean, clearly the reverse is true: strangers could tell I felt light and happy based on some splotches on paper. In fact, as people read the others' observations that they most agreed with, about 2/3 of their statements were mine. I always felt like an empathetic person, one that could read and understand others, so in that way, it was a very positive and affirming experience. 

Perhaps we're more naturally perceptive than we realize sometimes. Maybe we need to put down out baggage before we open new doors.

And maybe, we need some days where the universe takes us to whimsical, lighthearted, and joyful places.