Insanity seems to be in charge of the world these days, and compared to that, art can feel unimportant, and even a waste of time, like we should be doing something BIG that will make a DIFFERENCE.
But making art gives us courage.
It reminds us of what’s essential and true in life, and it reminds everyone who sees it, too.
Making art as a group brings people together (singing, dancing, quilting, cooking).
Experiencing art together bleeds hearts together ~ movies, concerts (I dare you to get through this video without breaking down in a puddle of love for our species)
Art communicates values faster than words do, and art cuts through to the heart.
Singing, painting, dancing, performing a play, making a movie, writing a book ~ there are a thousand ways to share our convictions. And they all weave and knit us closer together.
In a practical sense, a bunch of neighbors singing in the street confuses a warmonger, and makes it harder for them to inflict the pain and harm they are so eager to rain down on us. And when they inevitably do anyway, it's crystal clear to sane people everywhere what an injustice just happened.
However we do it, it’s essential that we plant that seed for ourselves, for our loved ones, for our community ~ and we never know who else it might effect, and how our art might all build on each other and bring more light to the world.
Besides, never forget that future leaders are coming up now, around us. And the better world that today we imagine and insist on ~ our words and art about that vision affect those young people forever and will help sculpt them into the leaders that they will be, and the world they will create.
So, I think it’s the opposite of “a waste of time”. It's all there is.
When our world leaders behave like this, we truly must, even more than usual, immerse ourselves in communicating the kind of world we want, and any art form is the perfect way to do it.