So, apparently when I said "let's go do something better and not be pigs" meant taking a three-month hiatus. Sorry! Mea culpa! But let's not wallow in our grief, and let's get down to business.
(Insert obligatory Mulan reference. Oh wait, I just did.)
In today's culture, there is an awful lot of emphasis on "success". Success is often synonymous with power, wealth, and the like. As we grow up and go to college and pursue careers and practice adulting (cuz let's face it, we're all just faking it til we make it), the most successful career choices seem to involve business, engineering, medicine, laws, etc. Very black-and-white, straightforward, critical, logical.
But lo, this is not Allison. No, I majored in Communication Arts and Theology and minored in History. In other words, I don't really have a problem when it comes to the liberal arts (which is really funny because those who know me know I like black-and-white and dislike grey areas). But liberal arts aren't exactly successful in the same way being a lawyer or a doctor is successful. Really, these majors can be pretty worthless in the eyes of the world since you don't exactly have a six-figure salary right out of college. I have even been told the following joke: what's the difference between a pizza and a Theology degree (or insert another liberal arts degree)? A pizza can feed a family of four.
And you know, they're right. Art doesn't exactly give you the most money in the world. But that doesn't mean it's useless. In the words of the late Robin Williams, from his character-whose-name-escapes-me-because-I-only-saw-the-movie-once in The Dead Poet Society:
"Medicine, law, business, engineering...these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love...these are what we stay alive for."
Don't mistake me for downplaying math and science. We need these. We'd be dead without them. Buildings would collapse, plagues raging, and pizza probably wouldn't exist (a real travesty) because cooking is just culinary chemistry. But let's not also downplay the arts either. We need both!
Art has a place in our world and our lives. It takes many forms--painting, drawing, music, poetry...art can even be found in science (remember culinary chemistry?). The ability to be creative and bring about something new is beautiful and mindblowing. Art allows us to express ourselves, our emotions, to reveal a glimpse of a piece of our own souls. It requires vulnerability and the courage to say to the world, "Here I am!"
Whether you express this creativity in poetry, sketching or even coming up with a new creative math problem or activity--all yourself to be vulnerable! Allow people to see a new part of you, or even just allow yourself to live!
