My friend Sarah first said the word to me.
Autotelic.
An activity or creative work that has an end purpose in itself.
autotelic
au·to·te·lic | \ ˌȯ-tō-ˈte-lik , -ˈtē- \
Definition of autotelic
: having a purpose in and not apart from itself
I’d never had a word to describe the place art making really occupies in my life before I heard it. And what a beautiful word: The greek prefix AUTO means self. TELIC is defined as directed or tending to a definite end. Autotelic — it flows off of the tongue just like work that can only be self-defined flows into the universe. There is nothing so beautiful as something that exists just because it exists, something that isn’t trying to be anything but what it intrinsically is.
It’s sort of like hope, which I think can only successfully be defined by itself. Any definition of hope really only offers synonyms, not a real breakdown of the meaning. I see things like “an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large,” but we know that hope is a feeling. And either you have the feeling or you don’t. You can’t mathematically or methodically produce hope by weighing possible outcomes, deciding that the odds are on your side, and then concluding that it’s okay to see a sliver of sun through the clouds.
Hope is much braver than that.
As is the act of living for the sake of the act of living, or living because we are here to live.
Early on in the pandemic I embroidered a set of red lungs onto a piece of white linen. It wasn’t in any way commercially motivated, it exists only as one way I simultaneously passed and marked the time. I make because I breathe.
And I write because I breathe. This newsletter exists as its own beginning and end too. Which brings me to this: for the time being, every bit of the content here will remain free to anyone who wants to sign up. We’ll see where it goes. For now, I like it the way it is — living, breathing, and being just because it does.
Thank you, Sarah.
And thanks to all of you for subscribing and reading.
AM
Everything you create is a work of art. I’ve never heard anyone express themselves so well with words. I don’t know where your gift comes from, but I’m so grateful to have that connection. This community has opened up a whole new world for me and I look forward to the continued journey.
And just because I started a Pulmonary Rehab, today, it is good to read about breathing and to see your lung art. It's everything. I love the word Autotelic, as well...