Baby Jesus is in the manger
So I’ll stop by after I finish my discount shoppingA view from the inside.
I’ve spent my entire life on the roller coaster of bipolar Illness. I know what messed-up brain chemistry can do. It offers sadness, depression, sleep disturbance, suicidal thoughts, alienation, isolation, low self-esteem, racing thoughts and more. Mental illnesses are not easy to diagnose or live with or cure.
Imagine Donald Trump were President during this Israel-Hamas War. He would invite Netanyahu to Mar-a-Lago for a round of golf. He would send Melania in her famous safari outfit to Gaza for a photo shoot holding a couple of preemies. He would send Don, Jr. and Eric to negotiate the contract for rubble removal in Gaza. He would send Ivanka to negotiate the sale of Gaza for Trump Properties. He would finish the border fence quickly to keep the Palestinians out.
Great efforts are being made to negotiate the release of a small group of hostages and to give them a safe and supportive transition back to their families and their societies. At the same time, thousands on both sides of the conflict have been killed. Babies’ lives are put in jeopardy by the war, and great effort is made to save them.
This is just one example—a terrible one—of the absurdity of human behavior. What makes any sense? Why are calls for peace drowned out? Why are these dramas of human hate and destruction repeated over and over again? It seems that rationality is just a thin skin covering the worst impulses of humanity.All across the country teachers are trying to help their students make sense of the wars that are raging. To my mind, the first thing be said is that any war is a grave failure of the human race. War is a gigantic rebuke to “love thy neighbor.” The few find fame in history. The many suffer and die in obscurity.
I think the world could be a better place if, just for one day, each of us could be the center of a spectacle. Glittering costumes, fabulous music, large adoring crowds and physically fit and scantily clothed backup dancers. Maybe a Blue Angels flyover. Just imagine that we could become the people we dream about, an uplifting day that we could treasure forever.
I watch the President or the Kennedy Center give out awards for bravery or lifetime achievement, and I wish I could give a medal to every ordinary individual who has done the demanding and unselfish work of being a decent, loving human being.
We would see who these folks are, how many there are and believe again in the goodness of humanity.Piles of rubble
Piles of spent shellsAll the world spills out to the artist. The artist searches for meaning in the world, filtered through their talent, skills, emotions, intellect and spirit. The work that results is offered to the viewer as beauty, message, heightened awareness, social commentary, perception of the sacred, provocation or personal vision. In this way the world is given its due attention.
And, of course, Joe Burrow’s quarter-of-a-billion deal.
Americans have become a sadly superficial people. They fear change. They lack critical thinking skills. They are suspicious of the creative impact of the arts. They bury themselves in spectacle. They listen for what they want to hear.
Unfortunately, the forces of politics and money have made K-12 and college education complicit in this. From the beginning of human civilization, critical thinking, intellect, curiosity, creativity and courage have been what moved humanity forward. So why not now?These are the creative media I’ve used so far.
Drawing / graphite, charcoal, inkToday is PAY CAREFUL ATTENTION TO A SMALL THING Day.
A pebble. A peck on the cheek. A seed. A sigh. A blade of grass. A child’s eyes.
It’s the men and women of military service who most directly represent American values. They volunteer, are trained and often risk their lives for their country, sent by an older generation who fails to respond to the life needs of them and their families.
Many of these veterans, when they leave the service, go into service professions that again put their lives in jeopardy—police, fire and EMT for example.Whatever annoys you about TV. TALK BACK.
What about this. Let’s combine Thanksgiving with the frenzied consumerism of Christmas and call the holiday Thanksmas. Thanksgiving is about family and sharing, so why not just pile it on. Then Christmas can become Christmas once again, a holiday celebrating hope and new birth.
Many college students expect that they are buying an education that will guarantee them a career with a good income and the quality entertainment of highly-ranked major sports. And this is how colleges and universities market themselves as they discard low enrollment liberal arts majors.
This is not how I view a college education. If you fail to gain an understanding of yourself, a voice to express your ideas and beliefs, a sense of awe in the world, a basic moral compass, an engagement with ideas of great thinkers, an appreciation of beauty and a sense of what it means to be a human being, you have missed the point of a college education.Becoming a decent human being is not a natural or easy thing. It takes committed parenting that teaches life values. It takes strength against the 7 deadly sins. It takes compassion that can see the other in yourself and visa versa. It takes a loving approach to the world.
We see every day how often humans fail at this and what the consequences are.At birth, we are not yet human beings. Getting there is a demanding life task driven by experience and conscience. Rather, at birth, we are quickly assigned the signifiers that separate us from one another—race, gender, ethnicity, culture, class, sexual orientation, education. In the midst of all of these splintering categories, who reminds us of the goal of being human—its demands, rewards, obligations and commitment to love?
My Happy Florida Lockdown, Ron DeSantis
To me, for all the other aspects, the Israel Hamas war is a religious war. This is sad because religion should affirm our spirituality and humanity. Instead of being the voice of God, religion has become the voice of hate and retribution. Religious leaders are now politicians. The news brings us the voices of generals, politicians, soldiers, victims, strategists and commentators. We see the destruction and brutality firsthand. But there are few voices of peacemakers. The spillover of these animosities across the globe is a sign of our failure as human beings.
I thought I was making my art, but all along, my art was making me. No artist has a guarantee of acceptance or understanding of their work. But every artist has control over how their work transforms them. The thought, the creativity, the physicality and the passion that crystallize in the work first inhabit the artist.
People don’t often understand this, but artists must.And our courage to persist
