The Art of Humanity

 


Four Cranes Taking Flight from Water
by Angela Marie Morton

As someone who prefers an unpleasant truth to a comforting delusion, I am unable to escape the reality of the current hellscape humans have brought upon our tiny blue dot called Earth, and upon all its inhabitants. Despite my best efforts and intentions to not actively participate in our collective doom, I, too, am complicit in contributing to it. As are we all, to varying degrees.

By acknowledging this disturbing and unsettling fact, I am able to see it clearly, and take skillful, creative actions to counter it, using whatever means are available to me, and in ways that are aligned with my values and principles. One of those methods is through making and sharing art.

That being said, at times I have worried that my work is not relevant to the events playing out in our daily lives. When I expressed this to my husband recently, he reminded me that, throughout history, people have continued to live their lives in the face of unspeakable atrocities, and still do so today. Births, graduations, weddings, funerals, celebrations, artistic endeavors, all still take place, despite the surrounding conditions being less than ideal. 'The world needs your art," he said. 

Most of what I paint and draw is done intuitively, but also thoughtfully, with the intention of bringing small moments of peace, calmness, and simplicity into people’s busy, over-stimulated lives. My hope is that my humble artistic offerings serve as quiet reminders that beauty and gentleness can exist even in the harshest of climates. 

We need artists to continue making art, especially now, as a counterbalance and an alternative to all the horribleness: a glimmer of hope that something better is possible, and the reassurance of humanity’s capabilities and potential. If all we had was the awfulness that predominates, it would quickly consume us. Art provides a space for us to catch our breath, soothes our psyches, and gives us the spiritual energy to keep going.

If you are a creator, please keep at your craft, whatever it is. Pure, human expression is necessary for a society to thrive, not just exist, particularly when so much of the world around us is ugly and cruel. The revolution may not be televised, but it could be creatively driven, if we all, collectively, continue to make, and to value, the art of humanity.   


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