Don't quit without giving your art a chance

Art alone is inspiration enough for the artist in you

We arrive as actors in this world. Or we become one without our knowing. Before we ask for it, we are handed a script. As sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, students, teachers, friends etc. and we perform the act to the tee. Without complaining, without questioning. But while we are acting, there is something happening in the background in parallel. Almost without our notice. As if there is another person coexisting with us, in silence and in the shadows.

This person likes to look at creepy, crawling insects, chase birds, listen to stories, hang on to silly things, travel without any destination and dwell in what we eventually happen to call as art.

Art is everything that makes our heart beat in excitement. Whether it is a song, dance, books, video game, flowers, nature, food. Many forms, all one name. It is the unscripted part of our existence and as we go through life we either begin to co-exist with it or continue to exist without it. We may tend to push it to the side and focus on the act. Tend to perfect our act for the so called assigned roles. We tend to either grow in our egos or grow in our souls. Our egos feed on the act, while our souls feed on the art.

I particularly remember a time in my life when going through the act had become so painful, that I would rather lose everything than spend another day pretending to care about something I clearly had no interest in. Why? All because no one understood the other side of me. The side only I knew exists. Everyone was only interested in the actor, not the artist. As long as I was winning medals, getting promoted, earning appraisals, I had perfected the act. I felt the further I power the act, higher the chances I would lose my expression. I was clearly not living for myself, I was living for others. Living in the Act was not an option anymore.

This shell broke loose when Art became intentional. Poetry powered my spirit. Reading novels alkalized any acidic thoughts. I first started pursuing Art through cooking. Which switched to sketching and slowly I came to realize the duality of life we were all living in.

If Act is the duality, Art is the singularity.

Your Art keeps you going when you keep your Art going.

Art expresses when the Act suppresses.

Art emerges when the act becomes intolerable and unbearable.

Or maybe Art evolves from the Act. When you reach the end of the Act, we have two choices - restart the act, or start dipping your toes into the ocean of the Art.

May be it is our ultimate destination. A destination of our souls uniting and Art is the Medium. A language understood by all souls. The means may be different but the linguitsics is the same. A communication with our higher self, our unfragmented, unconflicted self.

Whatever linguistics you choose, may it fuel the artist in you and not the actor in you. We are here to evolve into our higher self, and art is a language that can be spoken by anyone without any barrier of age, gender, nationality, and the thousand labels society has in place. It is the path carved by the spirit alone, waiting for the bodies to experience its magic. Like the spring flowers waiting for the winter tree to unite with its abundance and beauty.

Nature is the best artist. Imagine if the plants shied away from their art, we wouldn’t have fruits and flowers. The world would be pretty static, wouldn’t it. Like the ocean, vast, expansive and all consuming, it has room for everyone who has room for the ocean in their hearts. All we need to do is make room for the ocean of Art in our hearts and witness our unity with forces beyond our comprehension.

We are here to alkalize and neutralize the static, make the darkness glow and ember through the fire in our spirits. Don’t make Art for others, make it for yourself. If it is in the cards for your art to spread, it will, but don’t deny yourself the powers Art has in holding for you.

We can choose to co-exist with the artist in us, until the artist becomes strong enough to power our existence. We don’t need to chase it away, we need to embrace it and make room for it. Let’s give it a fair chance and not quit while we still have songs in our hearts waiting to be sung.