
I was listening to a fascinating interview with actor Ethan Hawke about the worthiness of art. What is the point of art? What does it bring to the world?
As he so eloquently said, few people sit and read poetry or read Shakespeare in their day to day lives so why is it so important to invest in the arts?
All the above may be true until we fall deeply in love, we lose a family member or friend, or find the world too much. This is where art really comes to the fore. We use art to search for meaning: to find out if we’re the only person who has this emotion or do others also feel the pain or elation that we do?
It’s at time like these, when we’re open and vulnerable that we turn to the arts for answers. The lyrics of a song or the sway of a poem help us understand what others who have come before have felt and it helps us through our own personal journey.
In short, art is the manifestation of love through the eyes of the artist. It’s a personal journey of discovery that will inspire others at the moment they need it most.
I shudder in horror at those who would shun any forms or art. Expression is what makes us human and, like us all, we’re individuals looking for that connection when our hearts are most open. This is the true meaning of it: to allow us to understand ourselves at a time we need it most.