Life as Art

" If the world is a stage, let our presence be living art". cmh 

There is so much artistic beauty created by Nature's paintbrush in the colors of the fall leaves, the beauty of the flowers, the sunsets, and the sunrises. The music of the birds, the dances of the ocean waves,  the artistic performances of nature.  Even the drama of the dear peony as it expands and falls over to attract all eyes to their presence, as a friend recently pointed out.  The subtle messages from nature's artistic flare are waiting to be heard.  The art of nature reminds us of the fragility of life, the need to pay attention, to walk gently through the masterpiece that is earth, and to be clear that the vastness of the difference in all of her creations needs no judgment only respect, awe, admiration, and wonder.

It was the last class of my daughter's education program.  A music class with a final assignment to share with fellow classmates on this day.  The students were to create their own song with or without a partner.  As they walked into class that morning, the professor announced that he had listened to all of their pieces the night before when they had been submitted so as to keep his emotions in check. Despite his valiant attempt, he was in tears for the entire class. Most students created music and lyrics to express their experience in the program throughout the last year.  There was a student who had considered himself a musician back in his high school days. He used parts of a song that he had started with his best friend and included some of the voice of this friend who had died a short time after they had begun the song years before. The young man thanked the professor for the assignment as he eluded to the fact that he would not have finished the song otherwise which he sent the family of his dear friend when it was complete.   Another student that had concealed his musical talents wrote and recorded a children's song about inclusion which was as professional as those recorded in the studio, his classmates had remarked.  There was also a pair of students who wrote a song about queer history with rap, including all of the remarkable folk who have done some amazing things throughout the years in our province. They were encouraged to share their song with CBC because of the current climate we are in with policy change and human rights being challenged.  There were hilarious songs and emotional ones and through art, they all conveyed a message for the listener. The students were given the gift of living life as art for this assignment and were moved by each other's artistic creations which were the experiences of their lives.

While this program was ending for one daughter, my other daughter was traveling out of the province to perform at a film festival.  She had been a participant in a year-long group called, The Spirit Project, which was a theatre group for individuals with and without intellectual and physical disabilities.  My daughter was one of the core members, as a neurodivergent young woman.  Each weekly meeting was an opportunity for living art.  There were musicians, directors, lighting technicians, and filming experts involved in extracting the artistic expression of the core members throughout their activities of meditation practice, question and response answers, tableaus, songs, creating relationships, and getting to know the masterpiece of each of the individuals who wore their hearts on their sleeves and elevated the hearts of those fortunate enough to be facilitating and supporting the members of this group.  The end piece of Art was appropriately named, Hearts Above Us. This was an artwork with a clear message of inclusion in theatre, song, and dance.  Living this art, my daughter was prompted to share that this experience made her a better person.  I believe this feeling was provoked by her being able to have an embodied experience where she was able to express herself authentically in the safety of the group. To be herself was her art and indeed being oneself does make us feel better.    The message the show conveyed as they performed their three shows, culminating at the Stages Festival, was that we are indeed better together. 

As moving and emotional as these stories were for me,  I realize that I am moved by art every day.  Nature is my teacher and the beauty all around in the physical world.  Every moment, the natural world is creating a masterpiece, and this idea of art in progress at all times around us, had me asking the question, what if we lived our lives as art?  What if we could celebrate the performance of all self-expression in those creating their own artworks every day through their language, gender presentation, how they adorn their physical bodies, how they danced, loved, and walked through life?  Art is a catalyst for bridging what is a known fact and the feelings or emotional breadth we need to motivate someone into action.  It can be powerful and present on all world stages. As it was at COPS 26 with the Indigenous presence in the form of a massive wall hanging and in the novel, Our Missing Hearts, when the character that Celest NG created, writes such powerful poetry that the political climate in this fictional story is so threatened by the power of words that it is banned from libraries and schools. Where the masses begin to use these words in silent protest with creative art displays around their communities.  Colorful murals, sidewalks, and artful flags, songs evoking emotions and empathy, gifted storytellers,  the witnessing of dancers fully embodied and free in their expression are just a few of the many places where art can be the place where beliefs and attitudes are formed and changed, That is the power of Art by its very own definition.  

As you step onto the stage of your own life today, maybe you will carry this possibility of living life as Art as well. Perhaps your actions and words will carry the right amount of drama, soulful song, power, and insight, to create a bridge between fact and feeling,  humanizing, and othering.  With movement that is embodied and showcases freedom. And just maybe, as you dance among the other individuals that inhabit the masterpiece of mother earth,  you will allow them the honor and artistic expression to do the same.