Art

As in short for Arthur. I’m kidding!

This really is about art and its relationship to humanity. But first, a personal tidbit that (I hope) ties into the art conversation.

So, I’m currently using Noom to lose a bit of weight after eating WAY too many of my wife’s super yummy cookies. Way too many.

Anyway, I really like the approach Noom takes by basing the weight loss journey in psychology rather than food (this is not a Noom infomercial, I promise 😃 ). Every so often, they offer an art break as part of the experience (it’s 10 paintings they’ve selected based on a theme). My initial reaction was…what does this have anything to do with anything re: fitness and weight loss? I was, honestly, a little confused.

But what I discovered is that the art breaks are thematically tied to the psychological element I’m exploring for the week. Feeling overwhelmed and need a moment to calm down? Look at these 10 paintings of seascapes and let yourself sink into them. I’d call it artful meditation. Some of the art breaks really inspire me; honestly, some of them don’t do much for me, but I appreciate the effort. However, all of the art breaks constantly remind me and reinforce for me this intrinsic connection to humanity. They capture struggle, joy, sadness, grandeur, simplicity, chaos, quiet, history, perception…and all the other things that are quintessentially human. It’s now one of my favorite parts of the Noom approach.

I think sometimes we take art for granted (and that’s any type of art – paintings, photography, dance, theater, music, literature, etc.), especially when our lives get busy with day-to-day activities. Art can feel like a luxury instead of a necessity. I know that happens to me. But then (with the aid of the Noom app) I take a moment and imagine a world devoid of art. It’s startling, stark, bleak, and, frankly, disturbing.

 As humans, we NEED art and creativity. We need mediums to express ourselves and the means to observe and reflect on that expression. Some fancy researchers even did a scientific study on the value of art as part of our cognitive development. Here’s a quote from that study that really struck me:

My favorite artistic expression and experience is music. I think there’s just something raw, visceral, and eternally human in music that truly moves me. Find your art and hang onto it because it helps keep us rooted in our humanity, which we need more and more these days.

Until next week.

Andy

(All written content created the old-fashioned way.)