The Artist's Guide to Breaking Down the Box

(The following blog contains no real guidance. It’s an inspiring thought spiral, obviously.)

I think that organizational systems are great. A little bit of structure goes a long way for my brain, and being an organized person in the often messy field of THE ARTS has helped to set me apart in a positive way.

Cardboard boxes are a fine way to temporarily organize items. If you’re ordering a new toilet brush and a Swiss Army Knife™ from Amazon, the items will often arrive together in a cardboard box. But after you tear it open, you don’t keep it in your home and use it to display your favorite items. You break that bad boy down and recycle it.

It’s convenient to put people in boxes sometimes.

“Oh, wow,” they say. “So-and-so fits perfectly inside this box! Now I understand what they are.”

*A creative person next to a box, for scale.*

Artists are multifaceted people. We can fit into a box, sure, but we aren’t meant to exist there permanently. Let’s look at this objectively, using the author as an example.

I went to Arizona State University for a Master’s Degree in Opera and Musical Theater Performance. I attended on a choral scholarship, but my passion was stage performance. While I was there, I learned skills in solo singing, acting, improvisation, stage directing, character analysis and interpretation, choral singing, sightreading, and more. To make a little bit of extra money, I sang in local choirs, taught voice lessons, and made recordings for singers. They should have called it a Master’s in Creative Living!

This is too much shit to fit inside of one box. You will need a lot of tape for it to close, and if you try to carry it the bottom will fall out.

Let’s loop it back around now. A singer is not just a singer. A singer is a person who has learned, over time, how to be a fully creative person. You, Singer, are capable of becoming a multifaceted artist who does more than one thing well, and it’s probably time for the greater world of THE ARTS to embrace that.

So the next time you get a package from Amazon, put your new toilet brush in the bathroom where it belongs, take your new Swiss Army Knife™ out, and break that box down. Recycling day is Friday!

Ethan DePuy is a singer, actor, photographer, educator, and occasional documentary filmmaker. His thought spirals are enjoyed by people far and wide from Boston, MA all the way to Concord, MA.