To create one's world in any of the arts
takes courage.
- Georgia O'Keefe
We are told
that success doesn't matter
and then we are given
the seven keys to success.
Magazines have articles that tell us
that real beauty is found within,
and photoshopped women
in high heels and fake boobs
adorn their pages.
We are told
to follow our own paths
and then given directions
by someone else
to get there.
We are torn between
meditation and
medication,
between getting up
or staying in bed,
between the glass half full
or half empty,
and on certain days,
no glass at all.
We are misguided
and misunderstood.
We are led by blind leaders
who believe that
bombs are the way
to a peaceful planet
and that their way
is the only way.
Petty thieves
go to prison
and wall street criminals
walk the streets
in their sparkly suits.
Is it any wonder
so many of us have lost our way?
Is it any wonder
so many of us
spend our lives
trying to be someone else?
Trying to have what he has?
We no longer hear
our own voices,
in the cacophony of other voices
so much louder than our own,
so much shinier than our own
so much stronger than our own.
We no longer trust
our own path
our own experience
our own perception.
And yet, i believe there is hope.
There is hope
because each of us
still has a voice.
Each of us still has a heart.
There is hope,
because as long as we have
a heart
and the ability to quiet ourselves
long enough to listen,
long enough to feel,
long enough to trust
in our own voices again -
the tide will turn.
That's why art matters.
Because art is the voice of your heart
and your heart always has something to say.
Have the courage to let it speak its truth.
xox
