Greetings Art Education Fans,
We have sure gotten ourselves into a STEEP learning curve haven't we?
Schools closed!? Contracts cancelled! Recreation centers closed? Gyms? Bars? Community centers? Art Galleries, Theaters! Museums! Trade routes locked! Flights re-routed, borders closed!!?? and even repatriation?!!
It's truly unbelievable how much we are being cut off from all of our mainstay constructs and ways of life by a tiny but dangerous virus. Since
I'm a very visual person, I need to see what it really looks like, so seen left to right is: the size comparison between Corona COVID-19 virus, bacteria, germ, red blood cell, and a microscopic aerosol droplet created by a cough.
Despite the fast moving virus and fast acting social responses to this, I have found it supremely enlightening that since it was named a pandemic, we have been basically forced to find other ways to entertain ourselves and connect to each other in another way. In another format... Screen time has gone through the roof in all of our homes! Even our Prime Minister has used the word CREATIVE in his addresses to our Nation numerous times.
And we dutifully listen to his every word like the good Canadians we are. The media has had a major effect on all of us. The warnings, the new phrases we find ourselves repeating. #socialdistancing #selfisolation #coronavirus #fearofgettingit #flatteningthecurve #stayhome #staysafe the list goes on.
OH THE HASHTAGS!!! # # #
My view of this situation is to find the facts, listen to the news to stay up-to-date but truly, I do not buy into the fear mongering. But please don't get me wrong. I am too among the suffering. I lost my contract for year, I've lost my self-sustainability. I've lost connection to all those wonderful children I had the pleasure of seeing daily and weekly. I'm aware there are people truly suffering, cut off from their families, losing friends, losing family, losing work and social lives. We are in a massive state of disarray globally. It is nightmarish for so many across our planet. Our one and only home world. Maybe now we will learn to be more mindful of our actions.
And while our nations' governments, supremely brave healthcare workers risk their lives, emergency crews take on more work with less staff, and frontline service employees and employers work tirelessly to keep our basic human needs cared for... I wonder. What is all of this doing to our collective human psyche? Especially considering we are ALL completely and resolutely in this together as a species.
CREATIVITY is also something we as a species have in common. Animals' intelligence is weighed on their ability to be creative, make tools, sing, dance and play. Ancient peoples' societies are judged by their level of artistic expression and innovative thinking and problem solving.
So, I feel like this massive shift we've been forced into for the actual sake of humanity will deliver us from perhaps some of our unethical or situationally unethical ways. We have burned ourselves before. Shall I bring up Hiroshima? Pearl Harbour? Genocide? Chernobyl? No, that's enough. THINGS have gotten scary and now we are forced 'indoors' to reconsider our way of life. Our way of living and sharing our global wealth.
CHILDREN represent a very special form of our human consciousness.
I sincerely love to teach them. They are pure beings, straight from wonder and and built with love. As we age and begin to learn how to 'fit into society' or develop the behaviors expected to become a strong member of 'the team'... we often lose that childlike openness and willingness to see another way of being. Considering our current societies may one day be judged by future humans on the strength of our creative expression... it's just a bit ironic to think they may not find us all that advanced given our destructive - not creative, historical data.
I know what you think I'm going to say here... children are our future right? Nope. I was gonna say...
(Click the picture first though! There is a fascination attached to it!)
ARTISTS are our future. But children, given ample opportunities to FIND and KEEP their inner creators alive - will become better future humans.
Artists have been the ones innovating new ideas, new ways of solving problems differently than we have in the past. They look to each other, to find a way forward when things get tough. (Okay, engineers help too!!) But artists are who we have to thank for literally giving us the communities, the civilizations, the functional tools with which we build upon to create our functioning societies. Who invented clothing? Writing? Communication? Pottery to eat off from?
It's unfortunate that creative tend not to be designed to be the ones in governance, finance and security. Now, maybe I don't know but it feels like these peeps have been 'running the show' for too long without the benefit of integrating the arts into their everyday lives in work and play. Everyone needs some form of entertainment and time to express themselves:)
Yet, we do need those who are innately analytical, the number-crunchers, the great people who look at the big picture and engineer ways to success. We do need someone to lead us. But perhaps how we choose them and how we hold them accountable ought to be reviewed... I'm just thinking out loud here... But click the picture for Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan:)
I suppose what I'm trying to say here dear reader is this:
As we navigate these uncharted and unknown waters - take a really deep look at what your life was like before the shutdowns, job losses, closures, warnings, manic shoppers and stock-market plummets... Did you LOVE every part of it? Okay, maybe that's not fair. Was there something you felt you were missing? (for me, it has always been free time for self care and/or self-worth. As a side note... artists in any form of industry are vastly undervalued and we tend to take it personally.. which then leads to financially. But that's for another blog;)
So let me ask you this, from your 'life before the virus" (watch THAT turn into a meme, or sooner, a hashtag!!)
Were there things, experiences, opportunities that you have wanted to do but had to keep putting on the proverbial back burner because of ___*enter any reason here* ___ ? Did you always want to sing? To act on stage? Be a gardener? A home builder? A painter? A potter? A woodworker? A chef? A nightclub sound booth operator? A bartender?
We are all around you and we love to share our gifts. Why else would we dedicate our lives to our art right? Creating and performing art are like a lifeblood, an oxygen we all must have in order to survive. And I want you to feel the same way...
Truth is, your inner creator is alive and well. S/He wants to talk to you, sing to you, draw and create with you. Now is your chance!! The scales are tipping in your favour. In our collective favour. And we welcome you to join us. Being creative and being an artist is the most rewarding way of being. WE have become a species always DOING. Not, a species BEING.
I believe firmly that we are ALL creative. No matter what. You create every single day in your life. Forget what you think is ART. Art is everything.
EVERYTHING. Look around your home. Can you name one thing NOT created by a human being? If not, did you create a routine for yourself each morning? Lunches for kids? Walking trails for your dogs? Outfits for an interview? A resume to land your dream job? Guess what? You're creative! Yay!
Mother Nature is teaching all of us a hard lesson. Artists included. She is forcing us all to look at and exist inside our 'man-made' constructs that represent our human lifestyles. Our houses, homes and sanctuaries. She has taken away socialization. (or our distractions!)
She is showing us what we have in common.
WE CREATE. We INNOVATE and we PROBLEM SOLVE using our inborn creative selves. EVERYONE DOES:) Hooray!!!
So, dear reader, celebrate your creativity right now. Where does it show in your current surroundings? Take note and spend some time thinking about how it makes you feel. Then, seek it everyday. Watch for it in your family and take actual notes on how much of it you are now seeing. Then, if you can squirrel away uninterrupted time for yourself- write down or doodle your own thoughts on this situation and how you would like to INNOVATE a new and creative way forward. You'll be inspired.
You'll be ignited, because you'll have found your sparkle;)
And if you don't find it, I am here to help you. You, or anyone in your life that you feel could use some more self-love, self-worth or maybe you've seen their sparkle and they don't. I am here to help fill the world with artists or at the very least, help the world fill their cup with happiness and wonder.
Watch my social media accounts to watch what I've been up to to share my creativity with you and the globe of creatives that live all around me, you and the planet!
Enjoy the ride, and learn anything you can:)
~Robin L. Thibodeau
League Captain of the
Artist Leagues
"We Are Not Mere Mortals"
"We Are Artists"
Artists Are
Cultural Heroes