On art

So I'm stealing the initial idea for this post from Pedalboy's blog. Go there to read the post that started this, I'll quote one person & my reply from there, then fresh material will follow.

them: i like. however, can we really say that civilizations would "not survive" w/o art? what is "survival" anyway?

me: "can we really say that civilizations would "not survive" w/o art? what is "survival" anyway?"

Art is being creative, it is expressing yourself. If you have no outlet to express yourself are you truely living? Even mentally challenged people try to express them selves through art b/c in art they are equals. They are just expressing themselves. In art it's not kill or be killed, it's whatever makes you feel. Feel something, good or bad, feel anything.

How depressing would life be without art? How many of us wouldn't want to be here if not for art? Art is unifies us. You hear a song, whether it be in Chinese or Italian, you can pick up the emotions. You can empithize, you feel it. Art in any form helps us b/c it lets us not only express ourselves, but lets us know we are not alone.

I believe there is a reason art is so timeless. That a piece of artwork, whether it be a painting or a song or whatever, can transend language and touch us all so deeply. It's b/c in art we truely find that we aren't alone. Even artwork about feeling alone in this world shows us we're not alone b/c we can feel what the artist was feeling. And that I belive is the key. Art is transendant, it unifies us b/c none of us are alone. We were never ment to be alone. And we are never alone b/c God is with us. And I believe He gave us art to help us realize we aren't alone. Even if you don't realize that God is with you you can take comfort in knowing someone out there knows what you're feeling.

Ok, switching gears...this does relate, probably loosely, but it relates.

We were never ment to be alone, this is why it feels so wrong. It's why we long for a companion. Human beings were ment to be together, in a pair, as man and wife. But beyond that we were never ment to be disconnected from God. And that's what we are. That is why we are lonely. That's why we get depressed. That is why we get online and build relationships with people that we'll never meet, why we'll join a web forum or read a blog. Because we want to feel connected to other people.

We were also never ment to die. I believe this with all my heart. Death is wrong. It was never supposed to happen. Why would death feel so bad to us if it is natural? Because it is not natural. There is nothing natural about death. We were never ment to die, the trees were never ment to lose their leaves.

I was recently in the ER and witnessed a mother being brought in asking "Where is she? Is she ok? Is she alive?" That mother was taken down the hallway, away from where the ER actually is and taken into a room. The door shut, and the most heart wrenching screams came muffled through the door. That never should have happened. That woman never should have had to feel those pains. That child shouldn't be dead right now. It made me sick to my stomach and I longed to be home with my own children. God help that woman and her family, they are going through something I pray I never shall have to go through. I can't imagen it, I breaks my heart thinking about that family. Days later I still feel physically ill thinking about it. We were ment to live forever, with God walking amongst us. We were built for companionship, with each other and especially with God.