Universal Consequence
There are certainly enough social evils and civil problems in the world to keep good-hearted people busy for a few lifetimes. What we can offer to help is almost as limitless as the problems themselves. So much to do.
The problems are legitimate. They are serious. They are felt, currently. They are being experienced by someone out there even right now. And I, potentially, could do something about it. The fact that I’m thinking about it right now proves it.
In light of our capacity to care, to innovate, and to help - how can we not spend our time doing just that? How can we “waste” our precious few minutes on earth sorting through emotional details and existential grief when so many can use our help?
For artists, that may be the exact right question!
Is art, by its very nature, only focused only on the artist’s inward journey or experience? Or, can art, also by nature, focus on the external needs of the world outside us, through the artist, to provoke or invite deep refelction on these human problems we all face?
Perhaps the best art is this inward journey of an outwardly-focused artist, who is wide awake and deeply aware. They reflect the struggle in us all to bring value and make sense of the world. Art reveals us to ourselves.
And in the process, it may even jostle loose a creative solution or two. Art directs us, more than we think.
Who does not struggle inwardly? Even our own perception of our physical needs starts on the inside. Though art may not directly affect direct physical change, it certainly motivates and inspires the human heart.
Perhaps there is not as much separating the two as we think. Sufferers and those that help them share the same ultimate disease. Though physical needs differ in scope and consequence, emotional and soul-level longing is a universal human language. Art can speak to that.
Victims of terrible injustices, and those who serve them, share these inward needs. The much more pressing physical needs must be dealth with. But art can inspire both. And can find its way into the hearts of those who suffer the worse sorts of humanitarian situations.
Art may be just the vehicle to do so.
