“Lost time is never found again.” — Benjamin Franklin
Doesn’t it seem like time nowadays is moving by rather quickly? A bit more than ever before? Or at least to me it does. Hours passing by like minutes, minutes passing by like seconds, and seconds well, blink and their gone.
The sun and moon are both out at the same time as well, like time on both sides of the luminaries are merging together somehow. More now than ever before. Time is precious but also forward moving only. We cannot reverse it, pause it, or acquire any more of it. Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever. That is why time is too vital to life and existence, to ever take it for granted.
“Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.” — Theophrastus
I remember growing up with time running relatively slow, certainly much slower than now. We had more time on our hands back then, or at least it felt this way. But now, it moves with the quickness and not particularly in a good way. If we truly look around and pay close attention, this is not hard to notice. Not opinion here, but rather a mere fact of something that is actually happening around us all.
And no, we don’t have a time traveling Delorean to go back and forth either lol. Many of us over our lifetime have stated, if I could go back and change this, or I regret this, or if I had made this decision or that decision, yeah we’ve all been there and said that.
But there is no time like the present, and the present is a gift. We cannot go back in time and change anything, no skip ahead either. All the time in the world and universe is happening right here and right now. We have to be present in our lives, for the past is gone and the future hasn’t arrived yet.
“Time and tide wait for no man.” — Geoffrey Chaucer
And because time is moving so quickly now, let’s make the most of it and life today. For tomorrow is not promised, so be present because it’s a gift, and again the only real time we truly have, is currently right here, right now.
Allow art to simply be what it is and not what one thinks or believe it should be….
This post is a bit longer than my usual ones here, but I felt everything here needed to be stated and I’m pulling no punchesat all with regards to art. This is due to my personal admiration, respect, and passion for artistry.
Art is the freedom of creative expression by various means through the said artist. And in whatever way the artist deemed it to be, manifested and materialized through their own personal and artistic vision thereof. This is how I personally describe artistry along with the bold statement above. The purity of art and the passion for the arts, is what matters most to me. Too many times through different mediums, commercial or otherwise, artistry tends to get lost and tainted. It gets modified or altered most of the time from its original form and vision. This has to stop! The question is, will it?
No disrespect intended towards anyone that has made it publicly, in the limelight or spotlight regarding their artistic work. But, has that spotlight or recognition gone to your head or ego? Has that forced one to forget their humble beginnings? Has that made you look down on other artists based on where you’ve reached? Has any amount of success caused one to truly lose the purity, passion, and true freedom of expression, that art has always allowed to happen and therefore should always stay there?
These are the questions that all artists must answer for themselves. Because you’re a teacher shouldn’t matter. Because you’ve written many books shouldn’t matter. Because you’ve gotten to travel and speak shouldn’t matter. Or received various accolades shouldn’t matter either. Never lose your way as an artist no matter what! And never, and I repeat….never judge or put down any artist and their work. Even if it’s not your cup of tea, art has always been open to personal interpretation. True appreciation for the arts, should always be in place.Now I’m not saying just anything goes with art either, as in illegal, depraved, evil, and immoral things or factors that we all know are wrong regardless of the art form or style.
Humbleness, passion, creativity, imagination, skills and talent over time, expression, freedom, and utter confidence in my opinion rule art with an iron fist. These are what keep an artist truly grounded and rooted in what art should always be and maintain it no matter what. Never get so high and mighty to the point where you can’t learn more, be teachable, or take on more than one art. But also, never be so high and mighty either that you feel you should harshly critique, insult, disrespect, or dictate to another artist what you think, feel, or believe it should bebased on your personal view or philosophies.This is the worst of all, and shame on anyone who does this to an artist, does to an artist from being an artist yourself, blocking or attempting to change or taint through misunderstanding of what art truly is and suppose to be freely. In other words, never put an artist in a box, because that is not where they belong ever. An artist is not a caged bird, but rather one that flies about and soars freely the same as art was intended to be and stay.Plus we never know the real depths or capabilities of an artist, until they show it to us. That is if they’re gracious enough to share their art with us all. Because they don’t have to do this, it’s at the artist’s personal discretion to do so or not, again their freedom and choice. And artists should always do art for themselves first and foremost, and not for others.
Quote: “Inside you there’s an artist you don’t know about… say yes quickly, if you know, if you’ve known it from before the beginning of the universe.”
― Rumi
Now, I wrote this from not only my personal view and experiences, but through the ugliness also through others I’ve seen, read about, or heard. I believe and will always believe in the purity, the creative expression, and freedom that art affords to the artist and their vision. Art never has to be what we think it should, but rather let it be exactly what it is and nothing more or less. There is beauty in artistry, and even more beauty through real freedom of personal expression that compliments art in the manner it was created and meant to be.
I truly hope that this post about art, resonates with all who read it and feel free to express and comment on it, much love and peace fellow artists.
