what becomes of the broken artist?

what becomes of the broken artist? 

While having a chat with a respected friend (quite possibly one of the smartest people I know) he happened to share a particularly horrifying "fact". 

"If the stimulus package gives any money to the arts-the entire country will go in the crapper. Art won't stimulate the economy...Art isn't going to create jobs...Art won't save us...dumping money into the Arts will break us"

And my dear friend, I beg to differ. Art will save us long before the Science does. Look at the word: humanities. Notice anything? That's right HUMANities.  The Arts provide the connection to all the things that will keep us from completely dying.  They remind us what is real and what can be. They surpass instinct, cold logic, and the artificial.  The Arts give us the difference between touching and feeling, hearing and listening, knowledge and understanding.  

The Arts give freedom. 

The thing that I see every day that hurts to no end is the complete lack of the human connection, respect, obligation, and sacrifice in regards to the world (natural and social, economical and political) around them.  We have elevated ourselves into a crystal bubble-surrounded by a sense of entitlement, devoid of a sense of responsibility, and too consumed by consumption to see the fraudulence of excess. I am guilty of it myself. I have let my phone swallow up time with those I love. I used to let things like television shows be a convenient way to "spend time" with others. I pursued excess in my brilliant bubble. 

Until I realized that I was running out of air. Certain people, traditions, connections...all began to fade from lack of that all-connecting oxygen. Break the bubble. 

The Arts reinforce the human connection. The connection that has the power to break us out of the bubbles, set us down side by side, and direct us towards common goals.

So--Call your mother. Write a poem. Have tea with a friend. Paint with your fingers.  Listen to music and dance even though you can't. Visit an art museum.

See if you don't feel a little more connected, a little more like a real person...

see if turning off the television, putting down the phone, the blackberry, the pager, the ipod, the itouch, even the computer (yes even that)...see if reaching into your creative self, exploring freedom through artistic expression...see if that will convince you that art is not broken. And neither are you. 

This is me-reminding you to check and see if your sole has soul.

Mine does.

Ciao.