Greetings!
Life is all around us. As we take it in – see, hear, smell, taste, touch – the reality of this world can be both unrelentingly harsh and overwhelmingly beautiful in the same moment.
Then there is the imagination. Did you know that the imagination is the very best vehicle for truth? Or more accurately, the imagination can be the best way to really grasp a truth and have it stick with you, even change your outlook on life – because when your imagination is engaged, the gray matter is ever so much more likely to hold onto whatever concepts are coming in.
Take for example Frodo Baggins. A mythical furry toed figment of J.R.R. Tolkien’s imagination. He embodied love of life, loyalty, perseverance under huge trials, and other character traits that are so good to fill the mind and heart with. To emulate even. When you read Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, you get a vision of just how valuable these ways of being are. That even if being good carries a huge price, it is worth it. Because here’s the truth - there are people living in really pain-filled situations. Huge trials. And they cling to life, and they persevere, and continue to work toward and hope that change for better can become real.
One of my art students recently painted a roaring bear in response to the injustices in the world today. The image spoke powerfully to me, "Enough is enough." (See painting below.)
Art is a language that engages the imagination. A powerful force.
So writers, and singers, and painters, and actors – please share your vision, and may it be of the stuff that encourages each of us toward a better way of being.
Happy Painting!
