I have a teenager who is sophomore in high school. She loves art, and I love watching her create art. She can pick up a pencil or a paintbrush and whatever she is working on comes alive. Now, not everyone can feel art, and not everyone likes the same type of art, but everyone can appreciate that there are some that just.. know art. My girl is one of them. She can look at a ball of clay and see a sculpture, she can glance at a wall and see a skyline, she see colors when there is only a white paper and when she touches her hand to these things, they "become". She wants to be an artist. Why? Because it makes her happy, because it makes her feel alive. Recently, an adult (we all know that teenagers actually DO take the words of adults to heart) said to her "Be a doctor, a lawyer, a nurse, but not an artist, that is not a real life goal. Haven't you heard of the 'starving artist?'" This is my letter and response to that....
To my dearest daughter,
As your mother, I can sincerely say, that I hope you aim to live your life so that you may starve. There have been times in my life when I was starving, physically, emotionally, and even spiritually. Those were some really hard times, and many times there was fear, and loneliness and dark times. Though you were little, you may even remember some of those times. But, there were moments , that I can say were some of the best times of my life, when life was simple, and made sense... when there was just happiness, pure happiness, and the hunger and starvation of life, made me want more... and that was beautiful.
I have also known times in my life when my belly was full. My bank account was full, my life was busy, and I was not starving or hungry. Oh, those times are really great, things are comfortable and there is happiness... but those are times of laziness too.. there is a feeling of dead ends, of chaos and misery as well. It is easy to say "There is something to be said for being comfortable." The only thing I can say is that comfort eventually settles in your butt and sits there, just as you will if you are too full.
If you pick up a gavel, but want a paintbrush, if you look at a chart, but wish it were a canvas, if you see another patient, but wish it were an emergence of creation from clay.. then will you be happy? If you bank account is full, will you be happy if you go to work everyday miserable? If your stomach is full, but you work and go through the motions just to make a dollar so that you might return to the same mundane life day after day after day.. are you happy?
You see, there are very few things in life that we actually have control over. Even the Declaration of Independence says that we may "pursue" happiness, but it is not a guarantee of it. The only person that has control over that is you. If art makes you happy baby, create!!! If you want to pursue a college degree in art... I got your back babe. If you think that your life would be not as good without art, if you see a future without creation as one that is not as exciting and rich as you would like it to be without a pencil and canvas, that by God girl, do what makes you happy... We only get one chance baby.. just one...
So princess, I hope you starve and are happy and rarely find yourself in the sadness of being full and miserable.
Love Mom
Alan Watts says it spot on...
But hey, that is just my Glitter Glue :)
Beautiful.
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