Creating without an Agenda

I am a woman with an agenda.  With many agendas, in fact.  Whenever I do something, I like it to have a purpose or even better, multiple purposes.  Whether it’s writing a book that serves as my masters thesis, gets me into craft fairs, and gives me an excuse to talk to interesting strangers or a series of events that where I can introduce friends who wouldn’t have met otherwise, practice music, and create momentum behind Miranda’s Hearth, there’s almost always a reason to what I do.

And this isn’t just the case for business related things.  Even when I’m writing songs or painting, I often have a purpose.  Someone I want to play for, someone I want to give the piece to, some message I want to get across.  Which brings me to Figment Boston.

On Saturday I spent the whole day sitting at a table in the park.  No books to sell, no posters, no cards on the table, no email list.  Just me, about 200 strangers, and some basic art supplies.  The entire festival was refreshingly pointless.  And that, indeed, was the point.

Although I get a lot done by having ulterior motives when I am creating, there is something to be said for creating without an agenda.  For there to be nothing more to what you’re doing than the act of doing it.  I had some truly wonderful interactions on Saturday with strangers (and some friends) that I invited to write or draw my project.  Sure, some of them may look up Miranda’s Hearth or come to an event in the future, but that wasn’t the point.  The point was to enjoy the beautiful day, think a little bit about what each of us makes, create something, and have a wonderful conversation.  Nothing more, nothing less.

This is a common push and pull in the art world.  Art for art’s sake or functional art.  Political art or purely visual art.  The real answer is that we all need a healthy balance of both.  Sometimes outside pressures are exactly what gets you to actually start working, but sometimes they suffocate an idea before it has a chance to become anything.  As someone who tends towards creating with an agenda, I have to actively spend time creating simply for the purpose of creating.  Each of us has our own balance, what’s important is that we are aware of it.