There is no other remedy that can soothe our souls and make us forget the misery that we, ourselves, create.

In order to neglect our creations of hate, we must revel in the creations that bring us good.

We need art that moves us.

I’m not against the progressive, the provocative, nor the “in your face,” but I do think there is a space for the sentimental, the touching and moments that make you feel hopeless to the power of emotion.

I read everyday about our primal behaviors, the way we are constructed as flight animals, instincts that predetermine our physiological needs. But then I look at the autumn trees, the tint of bring orange -rustic and melancholic.

I don’t know how to describe what I feel. Nostalgia? Bitter-sweetness? Love? It’s the ineffable.  Something in the beauty of life that speaks to us and reminds of our breathe in this world—of a pulse that we inhabit and contribute to.  I am moved.  I tell myself, “This is art: a response to the ineffable.”

We need art that reminds of community.

I want music that makes me dance with a group, art that reminds me of our connections physically and emotionally.  I crave moments of simplicity —beautiful, fragmentation of pain and forgiveness intertwined.

I want to read words.

I need to extend beyond the centuries through what others have said and what we continue to say. I need to connect to their human experience and understand mine for the next generations of life lovers. I need literature to give me hope for the power of word, the power of reaching people through the qualities of our voice.

I crave the art of food, of tradition, of making things. I want to put my hands in bread dough, shred the leaves of rosemary, and think back to those women, my ancestors, who smelled the same aroma, felt the same texture and perhaps stood in the same way as I do over the stove.

We need the art of living.

We need to be reminded of art’s presence in our life. Without art, how do we live in the present?  Shall we continuously be consumed with advancing forward, never taking a moment to recognize the hypnotic power that beauty, suffering, love, forgiveness and gratitude have?

My fellow humankind, embrace the ineffable! Live your present through the art that we create, through our individual creativity of living life as a community. Be moved. Feel compassion. Love the other—the highest art we will ever achieve.

Like elephant journal on Facebook.

Assistant Ed: Zenna James/Ed: Sara Crolick

{Photo: via Caras Ionut on Pixoto}