The world is a crazy place. Spend any time on social media, watching or reading any news outlet, or doing anything anywhere and you’ll be inundated. There’s no end to the number of things happening in the world at large that suck.
It can feel hopeless. When everywhere that you turn you’re being overwhelmed with negativity, that can make you feel weighed down, distressed, sad, angry, and any number of other negative emotions.
Living in a fear-based society, the narrative skews negative frequently. It can also feel like no matter what you do, there’s nothing for it.
When it comes to big-picture issues, such as war, politics, and social justice matters, you have very limited options. Most of these center on voting and attending protests, boycotts, and the like. As you change the focus onto more local issues, such as litter, rudeness, and seeing how friends and neighbors treat others, the options are still limited, but slightly more direct. You get to add picking up trash, having conversations with people, and choosing when and how to interact – if at all.
When you get to your immediate friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors, once again the limited number of options increases, but only based on your choices to engage or not. The trouble here is that you can interact all you desire to, but you have zero control over anyone else and who/what/how/why they are.
What do you control? Your life, the choices you make, and your thoughts, feelings, actions, intentions, approach, and the like. One thing you can do with this is make art.
The arts and taking on the craziness of the world
The arts serve many different purposes. They can express joy and wonder. Arts can be part of protest, a vehicle for social change, or a call to maintain the status quo. No matter what form they take, the arts and the creativity that goes into their creation are the ultimate means of self-expression.
When you express yourself via the arts, it can be a part of how you combat the craziness of the world. Often, the arts are one of the leaders in any such work. Why else do they ban books, censor paintings, and attach parental warnings utterly subjectively?
Creativity often occurs in response to world craziness. Many paintings, writing, and theatre have been created in protest along the way. The arts often are the front line when it comes to combatting the craziness.
This isn’t always blatant. Sometimes it’s not just subtle, but almost subversive. Often, an innocuous painting or short story comes with deeper meaning, a tool to combat the craziness of the world.
It’s not always a direct confrontation. Often, it’s more in the line of awakening people to the seriousness of a situation. For example, I write about mindfulness, conscious reality creation, and related self-awareness as part of my own work in these realms, but also to help others see them, be empowered by them, and take more of the control they have available to employ in their life.
That’s because I believe more people being more self-aware will be empowered. More empowered people, as such, can help redirect the world to less craziness.
As I stated earlier, you’re very limited when it comes to what you can do for the big picture matters. Similarly, you’re only slightly less limited when it comes to more local issues.
Where you have the power to affect change is in yourself. By being a creative, sharing your art, and using the arts to express your creativity, you become a beacon. In a fear-based society, any beacon of reason, hope, or positivity is welcome.
Since the only person’s thoughts, feelings, intent, and actions you control are yours, it’s the best place to begin to make any change. You can’t alter the world itself, but you can make choices and decisions about your corner of it, and what you do within it.
You don’t need to be a professional artist to make art. The arts, as a career, aren’t for everyone. Yet the arts in any form, professional or hobby, and whatever type you do can be used to combat the craziness of the world.
How? By giving you something to make. When you are creating, it’s an empowering act. Creating art in particular is a great way to awaken your potential and possibilities.
You’re more powerful than you think. Taking part in the arts is a great way to recognize this. What’s more, the arts are an incredible resource for changing the world for the better. However, that can only begin with you. Hence, think globally, act locally.
The arts are a universal language
Despite the difference in languages that writing can be produced in, the act of creative writing is part of the universal language that is the arts. Painting, sculpting, woodworking, crocheting, singing, acting, and all the other arts are empowering. They allow you to express yourself by showing a creative aspect of yourself.
Everyone is a creative in some form or other. Maybe they don’t create any specific art, but that doesn’t mean they’re uncreative. However, if you are an artist, sharing your work with the world helps encourage others to make art, whether for themselves or to share, as a hobby or profession, or anywhere in between.
Sharing creative work with the world is a great way to counteract its craziness. Show “them” that they have less power over you than they think. Meanwhile, help others see that to be true, too. In this way. The arts can totally combat the world’s craziness. This tends to come with far less death, destruction, and other consequences, too.
Thanks for reading. As I share my creative journey with you, I conclude with this: How are you inspired to be your own creator – whatever form that takes?
Please take a moment to check out the collection of my published works, which can be found here.
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