Flights of Fancy

I continue to be awed by those among us who have the courage to identify and express themselves as artists. 

I've been thinking a lot lately about the definition of art. Mary Oliver says that attention and feeling together yield the beginnings of devotion. Being an artist then, by my definition, is devoting yourself to creating something of value. 

Given that we measure the health of an ecosystem by its levels of biodiversity and interconnection, it follows that we cultivate community resiliency when we turn towards each other with love rather than fear and seek to bring forth the artistry within ourselves and others. 

A quote from the Gnostic Gospels that I have always loved is when Jesus says, "If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you." 

If we take that to be true, coming into the full expression of ourselves as artists is both service and salvation on every level, from the micro to the macro.