“I am not an artist.”
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Yes you are. It’s in your bones. It’s primal.
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We’re passionate creatures and often times out of that passion, pours something a little like … A R T. One of the most incredible things about humans is our ability to emote from the depths of our soul.
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People were sketching cave walls, dancing around fires, and adding designs on pottery long before there was a name for it. I guarantee you have an opinion about the colors of the walls in your house, the type of clothing you adorn your body with, and the color pens you take notes with. The red truck speaks to you in a way that the silver truck just doesn’t, you prefer rock music to country, you think silver looks better on you than gold, etc.
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“Not me. I’m not an artist.”
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Art shows up in your life when you eloquently argue your side of a business deal; when you tilt your head to the side, think for a moment, then attack a difficult problem from an entirely different angle; when you rearrange the furniture; when you write a facbook post about the challenges and joys of parenting… you get the idea.
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I once heard someone describe it as an external visual stimulus for an internal emotional state, which is kind of perfect.
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*Here’s some truth about the day that photo was taken and that canvas was soaked with paint. I did not want to be there, and I did not want to be painting. I felt like I didn’t have the time and couldn’t dare be pulled away from my computer for something so trivial. I was DEAD WRONG. It wasn’t until months later that I realized how important it was to make space for that moment of artistic expression. And it’s not been till years later that I’ve realized how important it was to make space for that moment of social interaction. *
Funny thing about creativity, is that exercising that creativity muscle – in any form or fashion – begets more creativity in the areas we need and demand it. That’s what is pictured here. It might look like messy hands chasing shadows on a canvas… but really I am awakening the sleeping bones of creativity so I can #1 feed my soul and #2 serve my workplace.
I was wrong about that second reason. “Serving my workplace,” should have never been a reason I did anything. People are the only thing that matters. How you feel about yourself and your relationship with the people around you is the most important thing you can spend your energy on.
Businesses close, people get fired, positions get replaced, and the status of the “bottom line” is ever changing. The quality and longevity of relationships with people who matter to you, is the only thing that will directly influence your quality of life.
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Art is everywhere around us and swirling around inside all of us. Somewhere along the way though, some of us started lying to ourselves and saying that we don’t need art, that art does not serve our lives, and we are not an artist. Yes you do, yes it does, and yes you are. Maybe not in a “professional painter” or “paid photographer” or “sing on a stage” kind of way… but still an artist.
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Feed that artist monster inside of you through music, poetry, play, movement, meditation, prayer, writing, painting… whatever makes your soul sing. Go create.
xoxo Carmen
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All photography in this post by Billy Creutz