Practice, art, self
Recently, I've been contemplating the relationship between practice, art the the self. I wrote a note about being an artist earlier, but I feel that I wanted to sketch some more thoughts. I'm thinking in particular about my own practice, as this is what I study.
Environmental sustainability is naturally an important reason behind my practice of zero-waste and extreme minimalism. I've always felt deep love and care towards mother nature, and I don't want to take more from her than what I genuinely need. This practice is not a sacrifice or a compromise. In fact, I feel that it's been incredibly beneficial for myself. So it has personal benefits for me, and perhaps for my fellow humans too.
Constellating various practices of zero-waste, minimalism, slow and simple living is art, in my view. Here I use the word art in a very broad sense. But it is not my intention at all to reduce art to professionally created art works or pieces of art one finds in museums. When I was discussing this topic with my partner who is also a researcher in my field, he asked me what does not constitute art then. I don't feel the need to be protective about the word art at all, to reserve it only for special occasions or works (such as famous paintings in museums).
Mindfully chosen practices become means and media of art, of creating one's self and one's life that has an effect on fellow humans, non-humans, and nature. Much of what we do in the social sciences, at least in social ecological economics is art anyway. It is about painting various beautiful and harmonious futures. Academic articles that I write and fellow humans in my field write may sounds scientific, but at the heart of many of them is a dream.