Everyday Art!

(I wrote this piece some time back in response to an article in Elephant Journal about creativity: http://www.elephantjournal.com/2010/05/cultivating-creative-citizens-through-art)


Thank you for this post. It struck me during Obama's inspired campaign a couple years ago that there was little (if any?) mention of the arts and arts education. Not only does creative thinking help us produce ordinary (and perhaps planet-saving) tasks better, but having an artistic outlet (whether that be gardening, painting, dancing, singing...) fuels us with the inspiration and joy to WANT to do these tasks - for the betterment of the planet and for other beings. Without art, without beauty, life becomes dry and pointless. With art, life takes on a vitality and a sense of meaning.

I suggest that we focus more energy on support for the arts - for our children, for the artists trying to 'make it' in this increasingly mechanized world - but most vitally, art for everyone, every day. There is nothing more precious than community art - growing gardens together, painting a mural, singing together, group dances, music-making, lovemaking, crafting... These are the things that truly weave us together in this web of mother nature's original artistic creation.

Because of course, mother nature is the finest and most original form of art...

...
Here's one of the responses I received:

Thanks for your thoughtful comment Ariana. Your suggestion of 'art for everyone, every day.' rings! It seems that we've become so removed from our own creativity and consider art an amusing extra, rather than an essential component of a rich life well lived.