Art is Made by Ordinary Humans
(Art & Fear, David Bayles and Ted Orland)
Do whatever brings you to life. Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart. (Big Magic, Elizabeth Gilbert)
I cannot paint like this artist, Merrill Stanley. And when I sing, my voice cracks, when I prepare a meal, there are flaws and when I sit down to write, words fail. These weaknesses reveal ordinary humanness. But I can still show up. We are born to create. Whether we make a painting or music, poems or a meal, stories or quilts, a beautiful space, a meaningful job, uniquely solving a problem, or caring for a neighbor … bringing what is inside our hearts to the world is what we are meant to do. Regardless of profession or place in life, we are all artists. When we show up to create, mysterious things can happen. In the art of counseling, I hope to create space that invites meaningful connections so loved ones see their power and move into all they are meant to be. Sometimes what is meant to be comfort and ease can feel awkward and hard … being human gets messy. Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold. The brokenness is highlighted and the pottery is made whole. In Art & Fear, the authors suggest that the source of our strength is found in our flaws and weaknesses. Maybe embracing being an ordinary human allows art to be made where ever we find ourselves, looking for the gold in those broken places.
