There is a film that had me in a trance, a film I could trust to guide me along, and enough unknowns to keep me engaged. This movie has stayed with me as one of my favorite works, and as one I consistently recommend.

The film is called Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky.

Its SLOW by every means, and at first glance, that may be the first thought. But where the discomfort lies comes from how the movie shares a mirror to yourself, how it allows you to be a part of it, and how it doesn’t allow you to escape from being an active participant in it.

From what I have observed of Andrei Tarkovsky’s work, as well as what I have read of his work, his films are like a prayer. A prayer toward something higher, a chance to transcend what is in the confines of a screen, playing a film. Or for him, a chance to transcend the object that is filming his work, transcending the camera.

His work is intentional, and to me, it is one of the most important examples of intentional work in artistic expression.

A bit different from “Throw spaghetti at a wall and see what sticks.”

From what I have seen across social media, across YouTube, across films even, people have found the spaghetti that sticks — a touch of red sauce and a noodle that’s a little underdone (overdone works too), and you launch it hard and fast at the wall, and keep throwing spaghetti on the wall.

There’s a bit too much spaghetti on my walls, and personally, I don’t really like spaghetti on my wall. I’m a little sick of spaghetti on my wall. I love spaghetti, but not on my wall…

Let me be clear about something: Some people are just beginning their artistic journey. There are people who are posting things that are cringy, people who struggle to even begin their work for fear of what someone might say about it, and people who never practice but want to become or create that amazing piece of work. But that DOES take practice and that DOES take trial and error, and that DOES take a time of cringy existence that is remarkably beautiful and can just be translated to “beginner.”

I myself am probably posting cringy content on YouTube. I cringe at myself because I am more of a beginner than I thought I was; my skills didn’t meet my imagination. But every time I sit in front of the camera, I feel more confident, can speak a touch more clearly, and maybe my color in the video looks a little better.

So I am not saying “don’t post until you have something good,” what I am saying is to post, but make sure there is intention that precursors the work, there is intention within the creation of the work, and there is intention of allowing it to exist for others on the internet, the page, the canvas, and/or the screen and beyond.

There has to be a reflection point for each thing that is created, a review of the information that was given to you throughout the beginning, middle, and end of this process. With looking from the outside in, what you take from it is what you can implement into the next piece. A chance to improve just a little bit further. Then repeating the process, so on and so forth.

Otherwise, you will get complacent.

Intentional art is something that is important to me. My art is vital to me, and as I continue to improve upon my own practice and also my ability to share my artistic abilities with others, the thing I strive for is this intentional work.

Intentional work is the ability to take the time for your art. To stop and think about more than just what’s on the page. To think about the work, how the work will be out in the real world, how people will receive it, but even more important is the amount of thought and time that is given to the characters on the page, the story beats, the whole of the piece. The entirety of it.

All of this takes a level of focus, a level of consciousness around the art, a feeling of activation within your art, and being IN the process. It is not a get-rich-quick scheme of advertising ourselves quickly on social media or YouTube. What we’re doing is feeding the souls of those who receive our art richly.

There is no better meal than one that is actually nutritious. I think some of the most important art is the work that leads you to art like Andrei Tarkovsky, movies that sneak your vegetables in without you knowing.

Art like this, films like this, books like this, get you to a place of understanding, of consciousness. It gets you there without you knowing that you want more. More of an understanding of yourself, and then you are suddenly on the path of self-improvement, hoping to continue improving for those around you and for the world you live in.

I have found these things in anime. Fullmetal Alchemist sneaks my vegetables in.
I’ve seen this in the philosophy of Psycho-Pass
I’ve seen it in animations like with Pixar.
I’ve seen it in films like Sinners and One Battle After Another.
I’ve read it in books like The Wind Up Bird Chronicles, which led me into 1Q84, which led me into the rest of the foray of books by Haruki Murakami.

Sometimes the airport romance novels are the ones that keep pushing you to find something deeper, something with more intention and more depth.

Sometimes it’s the exhaustion of social media that leads you to finding more depth.

Sometimes it might be the complacency that you’ve tired of that pushes you to stand and move forward.

But seek depth, seek intention, seek soul, because these are the things that move the world forward, while caring for what’s inside.

Without the ability to seek that intention, without the ability to be conscious, it leads us further into demise, and we are looking to heal and help this world.

We are seeking depth, we are seeking intention, we are seeking truth. And we aren’t getting it. So how can we?

Here’s one actionable.

Find your why.

Why do you do what you do?

When you find this consciousness within yourself, you keep delving further, but you let this be the core of why you do what you do. It’s building the foundation for yourself.

Ask yourself why — and then why again — and then why again.

For example, Why do I create these newsletters?

Because I want to practice my ability to write something succinctly.

Why?

Because I want to communicate my thoughts and ideas to people.

Why?

Because I come from a hell of a lot of experience and have learned so much, I want to help those around me too.

Why?

Because I don’t want others to suffer in the ways that I did.

Why?

Because life is beautiful and life is ever-evolving, and I would like to be apart of that.

Why?

Because I want to matter.

Why?

Because I feel that I am capable of something important.

Why?

Because of where I am in this body, and how my soul is connected to it.

Interesting.

I know, right?

Definitely.

Ask yourself why. You’ll come to something much different from me. But to know why is to seek consciousness, and consciousness to me is part of intention. It is hard to live this life disconnected; more suffering will come of it, and I don’t want to see you living a life detached from the self. I want to know that you are conscious and creating something intentional for yourself.

I have five slots available to take on students. I focus on the Chekhov Technique, but bring other concepts into it. My goal, always, is to help you grow as a holistic human being who creates art. Using art as an avenue to do that and share it with others.

If you’re interested, sign up for a free 30-minute session to see if this would be a good fit for you.

Sign up here: https://calendly.com/matt-piper29/30min‌