Let's try and find a moment where the chaos suffices and we can find the long lost peace of mind. Lauryn Hill spoke for all of us when she said she’s “gotta find peace of mind.” Where is the peace of mind? It’s seemingly nowhere. The chaos fills the lungs of world leaders and their spewing spit waters the soil of our moldable minds. Our minds expand with rage against the other side. That rage is oftentimes justified. What could help find peace of mind?
Maybe we can find peace of mind in the art that resides. “We are listening to a moron babble. We are listening to tongues that lie. We give them an ear, we give them an eye.” Move that ear towards the sounds of sacrifice. Move that eye towards the signs of real life.
Art’s strength relies in the way it can encapsulate the current time. Steel strings sing of injustice and high hats click at a confident constant beat. The most beloved artist created their work to build up their community to fight.
Art’s strength relies on the human condition. Community is brought together through the effervescent murals that line the city skylines. We speak in silly sounds that find meaning in languages' emotional lullabies. It’s why protests are led by chants and songs that unify.
I’ve been obsessed with trying to find the purpose of art for a couple years now. Why do we hold the creative arts so high when they don’t always have a physical function? How are we supposed to use these pent up emotions of loss, love and fear? This is the perfect time to find answers amid ICE protests nationwide, deportation raids and constant political violence.
Two things hardly flow together more consistently than art and protest. Maybe this is where we can find peace of mind. From the earliest American folk artists like Woody Guthrie all the way to modern day artists such as Kendrick Lamar we can see that speaking out through music is incredibly necessary. Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s directorial debut last year “No Other Land,” a documentary about the struggles citizens in Palestine go through every day with constant settlers and Israeli occupation, shows how art gives the oppressed a voice.
Move the eyes from our political elites towards the people of Minneapolis protesting in freezing weather. Move your ears from the words of Kristi Noem to the songs of Dylan.
“How many times must a man look up before he can see the sky? How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry? How many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died?”
Many people won't see the necessity for art until a loved one passes or a child leaves home. Many won’t see the necessity for art until you experience heart break and seemingly have no place to go. We feel convinced that the world is shining a spotlight strictly onto our emotional suffering and that no one could possibly have felt the same way. So when we hear lyrics that perfectly encapsulate our thoughts, we no longer feel out of place.
Some of my favorite folk singers like Townes Van Zandt and Joni Mitchell came into my life at the perfect time, helping me through the words they sang.
Art helps you feel heard. It’s a therapeutic medicine for both the creator and the audience. People often have a nihilistic view that words are meaningless and simply exist as sounds that float through space. That images mean nothing more than atoms that exist within it. That wasting your time focusing on creativity contributes nothing to our profit minded country.
When in reality few things in this world are more important than the messages that reside in art. Art is for the people; by the people. It’s a voice for concern as well as a voice of community. It’s thunderous speech and quiet contemplation. No one thing can pin down art because of its ever changing nature, so let's continue to use our creative voices and minds to fight injustices and connect with our fellow humans.
Art is my peace of mind.
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