Epiphany |"We Are Here To Create Art" | 12-2-2024

December 2 24 | Byhalia MS  33 degrees | Sunny Bright and Whimsical 

      Recently I found myself meditating on my purpose; “What is my purpose?”, “Am I aligned with my purpose?”, or even things like “Has my purpose changed?”. Let me be completely honest. It was a rough day.  One that led to deep thoughts that sounded like “WTH am I doing here?”, “I know there is more to life than this?” and “WHHHHHHHHYYYYYY?!” lol. You know, the type of metaphysical dilemmas that can turn a really good buzz into a sh!t show.   Thinking about content that I need to start and finish and even projects in other areas of my life and craft, got me thinking about art. Sitting out in the back yard, and taking in all the fall colors; trees that look like portions of oil or pastel paintings, laced in between my eyes and the almost hidden flecks of copper created be golden hour sun dotting the hay colored underbrush in the clearing ahead, I had an epiphany in the form of a question. What other beings create and admire art?

    Sure there are the Ploceidae; a family of weaver birds that *intricately weave* nest  out of long grasses and thin twigs that reassemble beautifully hand woven baskets. Though these beautiful creations may be classified in the eye of us humans as art, it’s a matter of safety and functionality for the weaver, sometimes containing trap doors, protecting it and its brood, from predators like snakes. Yes we can think of the peacock, who’s beautiful tailfeathers, seem to be painted by the most talented of artists and have been used as inspiration in so many artistic works and creations, but even with this example, these beautiful feathers have  very distinct purposes. They attract mates, convey a message of the health of the male to the female, and they also act as a visual deterrent to larger animals or predators. I racked my brain trying to visualize any animal or creature that consciously created art for its beauty and for the ability of others to admire it and I could not.

   I started to think about the qualities and characteristics we possess as humans, that allow us the ability to conceptualize and create “beauty” not just for ourselves but to be enjoyed by others. I struggled to put into words the emotional awareness it would take to categorize things we see, hear or even read as art, or as beautiful. We are the only physical beings with the ability to classify colors into color schemes, or to take seemingly meaningless objects and organize them into something beautiful. I scrolled past a video of a content creator taking random leaves, sticks and branches and creating the most beautiful and mind-blowing depiction of an eagle on the side of a boulder.  HOW AMAZING ARE WE!?

     With humanity being the only species in existence on earth ( that we know of) that creates, interprets, seeks out and enjoys art, the epiphany hit; WE ARE HERE TO CREATE ART! Whether we as individuals tap into it or not, our brains, our emotions (and our spirits I believe) are here to create and disseminate art to each other. I believe its so important to our existence that its actually a part of our communication and maybe one of the reasons that even with the developments in social media and communication, people often times feel more misunderstood than ever these days.  I once read that 93% of our communication is nonverbal with about 55% being body language and 38% being tone of voice according to psychologist Albert Mehrabian. I believe art is a portion of our nonverbal communication, even a spiritual language and its unfortunately a language that a large portion of people don’t speak. Most of us think of art as paintings or drawings but it encompasses so much. The definition of art is ‘the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power” and it also includes “the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and dance.”

    I’ve often read that the use of tools, opposable thumbs, advanced communication/thought and larger brains separate us from other animals and the apes, but I think we are missing one valuable trait and that is our relationship with art as human beings. Art gives us the ability to experience the thoughts, sights, emotion, and conditions of those who lived as far back as centuries before us, or as close as our next door neighbors or friends. It bridges the gaps that sometimes basic conversations, tone of voice and body language can’t, and it can even transform those very words, movements and tones into art itself.

        Creativity. “The expression of human creative skill and imagination….”  “The various branches of creative activity….” This is where humanity resides. We all reach the point that Aliah Sheffield did when she wrote the viral song “Earth is Ghetto” but  a world void of humanity is a world void of art or a  world void of the opportunity to see the same world through the eyes or perspective of another. Explore your art today beautiful people and if you aren’t able to tap into your forth language quite yet, take time to admire someone else’s.