Art Heals
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“Boomer had asked her once, in a telephone call from Virginia, “Why does this stuff, these hand-painted hallucinations that don’t do nothin’ but confuse the puddin’ out of a perfectly reasonable wall, why does it mean so much to you?” It was a poor connection, but he could have sworn he heard her say, “In the haunted house of life, art is the only stair that doesn’t creak.”
― Tom Robbins, Skinny Legs and All
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“This world operates through polarities and pairings that both oppose and complement each other and humans are no exception. The heart beats with two sides, the lungs double up to breathe, breasts hang side by side and the testicles as well. The eyes and ears watch and listen from two sides of the same face…
A person is both a unity and an opposition, so is a marriage and so are most social relationships as well. A whole society works that way, with opposing political parties and with upper classes looking down on those trying to move up in the world. Each thing carries its own shadow and the inner oppositions in people repeatedly become reflected in outer conflicts that are even harder to get a handle on. Whatever we refuse to face within us will become a collective fate in the world around us. The wise come to know their own inner conflicts, while the unwise keep insisting that all the trouble is the fault of others.”
- Michael Meade, “Fate and Destiny”
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“There are wonderful artists in the world, so many in so many fields; film and music, everywhere, it’s wonderful how rich it is, and of course this gives you strength, because you know so many people are working sincerely on something,”
— Pina Bausch
There is a connection between art and meaning in life. For me, it’s the one “stair that doesn’t creak” as long as it goes beyond “pretty.” Not that I have anything against decoration, sometimes it’s just the right thing for the time and place. We don’t always have to be deep and profound.
The dedication and devoted application of the artist, if it’s fueled by love of nature, of beauty and the questions of existence, inspire my undying admiration. I never wanted to be anything but an artist/philosopher. It has been my guide and inspired teacher.
