The Beauty of Impermanence
In an era defined by instant gratification, the realities of a memory erased or the end of a journey can feel bittersweet. Collectively, we often overcompensate for the fear of being forgotten and a life unfulfilled. The relentless pace of seeking is a testament to the human spirit’s desire to find profound significance in a world that is much larger than life itself. As seasoned artists, we’ve contemplated what a fulfilled life looks like for the thrill-seeking creative, and how the art we create may transcend and endure much like we do.
Our answers lie in the essential philosophy of Impermanence. Impermanence (also known as Anicca or Anitya) is a central tenet in Eastern philosophies, daring to say, “Everything changes, and nothing stays the same.” This core doctrine teaches us to embrace the transience of all things. Memories fade away. Materials wither and decompose. Experiences end; yet, we cling to immortalizing time and space.
It’s not all our fault though. We exist in a time of relentless pace. Embracing impermanence and living in the moment is easier said than done. We’ve all been guilty of this—I know for certain I have. As a Gen Z artist, I grew up in the gilded age of tech innovation, where we immortalized every moment with a snapshot or a tweet. The more I’ve grown, the more I’ve realized that life is not reserved to carousels and character limits. Impermanence has cemented itself in my existence and my creations.
Too often, the life of an artist can exist at the same pace as the rest of the world. With social media, there are newfound avenues of engagement that seem too overwhelming to master. Creating for engagement, survival, and even for the sake of creating can begin to feel like a chore. We feel as though we must canonize our work with polaroids or curate global experiences for fear of being forgotten. So, how do we see the beauty in impermanence while embracing the lifecycle of creation?
Impermanence as Creative Muse
As artists, we could learn a great deal about the beauty of our art and the lives we could lead if we embraced impermanence. The Dalai Lama said, “Awareness of impermanence and appreciation of our human potential will give us a sense of urgency that we must use every precious moment.” For VAWAA artist Nancy Basket, her decades-long training in indigenous basket weaving is an ode to the power of impermanence and ancestral knowledge.
Basket’s dedication to cherishing the practices of her ancestors in the face of intellectual and creative extermination is a testament to the profound conduit of human emotion and ideas. When we are aware of the imminent impacts of impermanence, we begin to use her as a muse in our creations.
Art, in its myriad forms, has been used as a tool to immortalize the ephemeral. For many, the act of creation is our driving force for spiritual fulfillment. Whether you are studying the meditative art of Japanese ink painting in Tokyo or expanding your spice tolerance in Goa, India, art freezes moments in time that otherwise would succumb to the incessant march of life itself. Regardless, when these experiences are over, we once again return to the lives we lead—more fulfilled than when we began our path to creation. This is the beauty of impermanence.
As we navigate the rhythms of impermanence and creation, we will constantly be met with the beauty of our brief artistic endeavors that mirror the transient nature of life itself. In an age where the immediacy of digital platforms often dictate our sense of worth, the impermanence of art need not bear the weight of sadness. Instead, it serves as a reminder that, like the changing seasons, the ebb and flow of our creative expressions are part of the natural rhythm of existence.
Embracing the Fleeting, Seizing the Moment
Does it mean we stop capturing our artistic essence through social media? No. (Baby steps.) But I challenge us to create for the sake of creating. Embrace your artistic urges. Unsubscribe to the irrational pressures of today and live a life fulfilled with art as your center. Live intentionally. Create consciously. Impermanence lends us solace and a sense of direction for the endless possibilities that appear when we appreciate our vast and innate potential.
As we welcome the tenants of impermanence into our lives, we will feel the urgency of seizing the precious moments of creation. Though this time is forever fleeting, the cycle of creation and the embrace of impermanence propel us forward, reminding us that every precious moment is a canvas awaiting our human genius.
The Power of the Powerless
The confrontation between the post-totalitarian system and the independent initiatives rooted in living within the truth inevitably takes a form that is fundamentally different from that typical of an open society or a classical dictatorship. Initially, this confrontation does not take place on the level of real, institutionalized, quantifiable power which relies on various instruments of power, but on a different level altogether: the level of human consciousness and conscience, the existential level.
The effective range of this special power cannot be measured in terms of disciples, voters, or soldiers, because it lies spread out in the hidden sphere of social consciousness, in the repressed longing for dignity and fundamental rights, for the realization of real social and political interests. Its power, therefore, does not reside in the strength of definable political or social groups, but chiefly in the strength of a potential, which is hidden throughout the whole of society, including the official power structures.
This power does not rely on soldiers of its own, but on the soldiers of the enemy as it were – that is to say, on everyone who is living within the lie and who may be struck at any moment (in theory, at least) by the force of truth (or who, out of an instinctive desire to protect their position, may at least adapt to that force). It is a “bacteriological weapon,” so to speak, utilized when conditions are ripe by a single civilian to disarm an entire division.
This power does not participate in any direct struggle for power; rather, it makes its influence felt in the obscure arena of being itself. The hidden movements it gives rise to there, however, can issue forth (when, where, under what circumstances, and to what extent are difficult to predict) in something visible: a real political act or event, a social movement, a sudden explosion of civil unrest, a sharp conflict inside an apparently monolithic power structure, or simply an irrepressible transformation in the social and intellectual climate.
The Evolving Role of “Dissidents”
The Czech playwright and dissident Vaclav Havel described the “dissident” movements in the Soviet bloc as primarily defensive in nature – they exist to defend human beings and the genuine aims of life against the aims of the system. Rather than offering a new political program or ideology, their central focus is on the defense of people, human rights, and the upholding of the law.
Havel saw this “provisional,” “minimal,” and “negative” program as an optimal and positive approach, as it forces politics to return to its proper starting point: individual people. In the democratic societies, where the violence done to human beings is not as obvious and cruel, this fundamental revolution in politics has yet to happen. But in the post-totalitarian world, the central concern of political thought is no longer abstract visions of a self-redeeming, “positive” model, but rather the people who have so far merely been enslaved by those models and their practices.
The “dissident” movements address the hidden sphere; they demonstrate that living within the truth is a human and social alternative and they struggle to expand the space available for that life. They do not assume a messianic role, nor do they want to lead anyone. They leave it up to each individual to decide what they will or will not take from their experience and work.
Havel understood the “dissident” movements as indirectly affecting the power structure, not through confrontation on the level of actual power, but by exerting pressure through the demonstration of living within the truth. This pressure creates a dilemma for the regime, which must respond either through repression or adaptation. The regime’s adaptation can take various forms, from appropriating certain values to attempts at reform, ultimately blurring the lines between living within the truth and living with a lie.
Parallel Structures and the Redefinition of Politics
One of the most important tasks the “dissident” movements have set for themselves is to support and develop “parallel structures” – areas where a different life can be lived, a life that is in harmony with its own aims and which structures itself accordingly. These parallel structures represent the most articulated expressions so far of living within the truth.
Havel saw the genesis and evolution of these parallel structures as inseparable from the phenomenon of “dissent,” even though they reach far beyond the arbitrarily defined area of activity usually indicated by that term. They include everything from self-education and free creative activity to independent social self-organization. In this sense, the “dissident” movements do not have their point of departure in the invention of systemic changes, but in a real, everyday struggle for a better life here and now.
Havel was skeptical of traditional political models and their ability to redeem us, as he believed the problem lies far deeper than any particular political line or program. He saw the need for an “existential revolution” – a broad moral and spiritual reconstitution of society that would provide hope for a new relationship between human beings and the “human order,” which no political order can replace.
The political consequences of such an existential revolution, in Havel’s view, would be reflected in the constitution of structures that derive from this new spirit, rather than from a particular formalization of political relationships and guarantees. These structures would be open, dynamic, and small, placing no limits on the genesis of different structures, and with authority based on personal trust and responsibility rather than position in a power hierarchy.
Havel’s vision for the future challenged the limitations of traditional parliamentary democracy, which he saw as incapable of offering fundamental opposition to the automatism of technological civilization and the industrial-consumer society. He believed the path forward lies in the rehabilitation of values like trust, openness, responsibility, solidarity, and love, expressed through a redefinition of political structures rooted in the genuine needs and self-organization of people.