When Art Finds You at Lunchtime

Hi there,

This week, I found myself standing in the New York Public Library, moving through corridors and atriums as dancers transformed the space around me.

It was part of a site-specific series called Lunch Dances—performance woven into the architecture, people drifting in from their workday, some on purpose, some by accident.

I thought I was just going to watch.

Instead, I got something I wasn't at all expecting..

Standing there, with tourists and office workers flowing past, I watched these artists turn a public building into something sacred.

And my whole body said, without hesitation:

“I must make art.”

Not someday. Not when it's convenient. Not if it fits the plan.

Now.

It's not enough to remember who you are.

At some point, you're invited to answer that knowing.

Moving through the library with the dancers, my thinking got very clear.

I was thinking about:

• The courage it takes to bring your work into public space.
• The quiet rebellion of carving out a moment of presence in the middle of a workday.
• The way a single gesture can change the feeling of an entire room.

And something within me that was asking to be done.

I suspect you might know this feeling, too.

The moment when something in you says:

“This is what I'm here for.”

It might not be dance. It might be writing, or teaching, or designing, or caring for others in a way that only you can.

But you know it when you feel it. Your chest opens. Time moves differently. Something lands.

And then, almost immediately, the world rushes back in:

• “Be practical.”
• “There's no money in that.”
• “Who do you think you are?”

But the part of us that knows what we're here to do doesn't disappear. It just waits.

Sometimes, it waits in a library corridor and finds you at lunchtime.

So this week, I'm asking myself—and I'm asking you:

Where is life inviting you not just to remember who you are…

…but to answer that call in some small, real way?

Maybe by:

• Going back to a class or practice you quietly loved and left.
• Giving one hour to a project that feels “impractical” but alive.
• Saying yes to sharing your work in a small, local context.
• Or simply admitting to yourself, “This is what I want.”

Answering the call doesn't have to be dramatic. It just has to be true.