Performance Art

Art is what happens when you make something better than it needs to be. It would have worked well enough before you put some finishing touches on it. It would have been good enough before you decided to put an extra flourish into it. A little extra effort and care can make it more attractive, elegant, robust, capable, efficient: the work of an artisan.

So why go for a run through difficult terrain, like snow and ice? Why split wood by hand; especially when it’s just for the occasional campfire in your backyard? Why even bother learning to deadlift, do a pull-up or tree pose?

Maybe just as an expression of physical potential and agency. Maybe just for the variety: a challenge that breaks up your routine. Maybe doing it outside just because it’s nice to be outside; whether or not the weather is actually nice. Maybe it’s just to have one difficulty in your life that you get to pick. 

Maybe doing things the hard way once in a while makes us a little better in some way: a little stronger, a little more coordinated, a little more aware, a little more alive. 

Maybe it’s performance art.