Music has always
been a big part of my life from childhood, though my tastes have broadened a
lot. I love inspiration music, or listening to choirs can bring me to tears
especially choirs around the world. Several months ago
I was invited to attend The London African Gospel Choir It was a
unique day. The choir played some of the most popular songs. There were several
moments when the music lifted me right out of myself.
Getting More Art into Your Life
1.
Cultivate a taste for beauty: As with so much in life, making room for art starts with
intention. Take time to notice beauty. When we hear or see something stirring,
we should comment on it to deepen the impression. Talk about it with someone
close to you. Share it if possible. However you approach it, make it a priority.
2.
Set art-related goals: How many of
last year’s academy award-winning movies have you seen? How many of the great
novels like "Americanah
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie" or Taiye Selasi's Ghana must
Go" have you read? Make some lists of artistic works
you want to experience and then get a plan to do so. Planning is the first step
to doing.
3.
Revisit your childhood hobbies or interests: What if you can’t think of any types of art you want to pursue? Go
back to those things that got you excited as a teenager—possibly the same time
that part of you got shut down. Did you draw, write, paint, or play an
instrument? Even if you don’t go that direction now, it may open up doors for
other kinds of art that work for you today.
4.
Cook, garden, and build stuff: I call these
stress busters and I know people who swear that doing some cooking or creating
things helps boost their creativity and they love it. There is so much joy that
comes from artfully preparing and sharing food, or successfully working a
garden.
Art gives us
meaning. There are things that cannot be understood with pure reason—like love
and beauty, to name two. Art helps us understand our world.
It does that
because it helps us transcend our world. I said that listening to classics from
smooth FM lifted me out of myself. Art has the power to point us to the divine,
to the ultimate Artist. It doesn't answer all the questions, but it
can shine a light on questions we didn't even know we had.
And art requires
something of us. At the most basic level it can stir us to gratitude. But it
can also awaken the creative imperative in us. As people, made in the image of
our Creator, we have to do more than merely produce. We have to create, to
express, to give life to the ideas inside us.
The cool thing is
that creativity works like a muscle; the more we use it, the stronger it gets.
And here’s the good news: We don’t have to attend exclusive concerts and travel
abroad to get more art in your life. Some of the most rewarding artistic
moments I’ve ever had have been in my own living room or around a friend’s
dinner table. How have you included arts into your life.... please leave comments
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