Art, Faith, Humanity
Below you will find the transcription of my contribution to the travel journal. The theme of the journal was art, faith, humanity. I did take photos of my actual entry and will post them when I have time to upload. I’m terrible with the photos. I know, I know! The pictures are okay, but it was more about the prose for me. . .
Art
“Every great work of art, I would declare pompously, is a celebration, an act of insubordination against betrayals, horrors, and infidelities of life.”
~Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi
I’ve only started referring to myself as an artist in the past two years. Every time I say it, it feels better. As if I’m growing into the concept. I hesitated to call myself an artist for a long time because I write. I don’t paint. I don’t dream up murals. I don’t take photographs. But one sweet day it occurred to me that I create. I take the emotions, images, hopes, and fears that reside in my mind and put them on paper. That makes me as much of an artist as all the others. In a way, we are all artists creating art—which is ultimately an invitation we extend to each other—to see things in a new way.
Faith
“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is ______”
~ 1 Corinthians 13:13
As the Bible has it, “The greatest of these is love,” and not that I’m one to discredit the Bible (or this verse of it anyway), but I don’t think St. Paul will mind if I suggest we occasionally rotate the three. There are some days when you need hope above all else and other days when faith is what’s on call. I’ve had a relationship with faith my entire life meaning I’ve always believed there’s more to the wind and the sun than the wind and the sun. They are not only sources of light and energy but also strength and comfort. Sometimes when I am at my most disheartened, it is the rays of the sun or the presence of a gentle breeze that reminds me I am not now nor will I ever be alone.
Humanity
I am about a month away from my 30th birthday. I am not afraid of getting older. Bring it on I say! I become more comfortable in my own skin by the minute. I have learned so much this past decade, and I am thrilled to know that there is more to come. One thing that has become to clear to me in my twenties, especially in the past three years, is how people pass their pain around. We can be so needlessly critical of each other simply because we are hurting. We aren’t happy with who we are or what’s happened to us, so we blame everyone else. Whether consciously or subconsciously, we are inspired to make others feel as bad as we do. Knowing this, I want to make compassion my first priority as a thirty-year-old. I want so badly to be able to extend it to everyone—even those who don’t extend it to me. We are all human. Our experiences are not that different and a little empathy goes a long way.
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” ~ Plato
October 29th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Dear Samara,
A friend of mine and compatriots of his have been having a bit of a discussion on “poets v. critics” at a blog called “Three’s Prime.” The first of your entries here reminded me of that. The act of creating is beautiful, and sacred, and invariably worthwhile, if sometimes only for the growing of the creator’s soul.
We are not far apart in chronological milestones. To combine your second and third points, try looking back to discover times in your life when you truly have loved your neighbor as yourself (it’s hard!). Now think about whether you could get back to that by working on loving your neighbor–or by working on loving yourself.
The Plato quote is new to me. It’s great.
January 4th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
Wow, that is such a powerful quote from ‘Reading Lolita in Teheran.’ That’s another book recommendation I need to look into. Being in a democratic society, we take it for granted the opportunity to express our thoughts freely. I don’t remember where I heard or read this but I came across a quote or a statement talking about defining a work as an art if the work can elicit a response from the audience. Yeah, there are works out there that may be described with single words such as beautiful or stunning, but I feel that the magnitude of the works you create elicit more than one-word responses. Your blog entries inspire us to look at our inner self to question and refine our identity. I think ‘Note to Self’ falls in this category, too, through journaling. And ‘For the Love of Letters’ has inspired me to verbally articulate my thoughts, whether it be through writing, or in person. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but you have demonstrated that there are other forms of art which inspire us to be verbally creative, and still find ways to elicit responses which cannot be described by a single word, and then set aside for good. I don’t know if there is a single word that would describe the type of artist to describe you, but your works inspire goodness in us and towards those we interact with. You’re more than just an artist. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful contribution.