Insight: Diversity can celebrate unity by Lorraine Glowczak

My first insight of the month focused on the many celebratory events that occur in the month of October. My second insight was dedicated to civil discourse and seeking ways to understand others whose points of views are different than our own. This week, I’m bringing the two together.
 

Among the multiple month-long event celebrations, October is also National Arts and Humanities month.

It is a widely known and steadfast belief, among those active in and passionate about art, that creativity in any form (painting, music, writing, crafts, photography, performance, etc.) enhances our lives in many ways. It can inspire us to follow our dreams, choose happiness and gratitude, calm us, and create focus, purpose and productivity - to name just a few of the positives.

But what does art have to do with being civil?

It has been said that bringing art into our lives and our communities helps to promote understanding between people who have, seemingly, nothing in common. It can teach us to express insightful and creative ideas while others look on to experience – perhaps allowing one to see the artist more clearly (almost as if looking into a mirror and seeing ourselves.)

This self-reflection can and has inspired a sense of uniformity and promotes the concept that we are in this big fat world together. 

The authors of “The Scientific Study of Inspiration in the Creative Process: Challenges and Opportunities” stated this about art:

“Putting art at the heart of a community enhances our lives by stirring hard-to-articulate feelings and inspiring us to look beyond what we believe to be possible and imagine a more vibrant, exciting future. It also reminds us that we’re all creative beings — and that whether we’re making art or music, telling stories or cathartically sharing in the experience, we’re all connected.”  www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles

This sense of connection has the power to create change – not just in ourselves individually but as a community as well. Through art, it seems to be easier to accept the diversity in each of us, joining us together rather than separating us. 

They say the job of an artist is to offer a sanctuary of beauty to an ugly world. I can’t say the world is ugly but by the creative power of art and the role it very well may play in our connection with one another, the unity it creates can quite possibly prevent an ugly world.