Tip #14 See the beauty in everything

It is not a surprise that my last post for this two week series is about art.  Art is a lifeline for me.  I love seeing it, reading about it, and creating it.  It helps me see the beauty in all of the things around me even in the toughest of times.

I remember being in the Bronx as a young person.  Amidst all of the concrete buildings and dark alleys there was this very lanky rose bush growing in between two apartment buildings with a single pink rose.  I remember thinking to myself “How beautiful! Even in this concrete jungle, delicate beauty will push its way through to be seen.”  In that moment I realized that I could try to see the beauty in all things regardless of how grim things seemed to be. 

I studied art in high school and I enjoyed it. I found it challenging so oftentimes I would push it aside in frustration.  When I became an adult, I again tried to take some classes in all different areas to try my hand and see what might work for me.  I took my fair share of drawing classes, acrylic and oil painting, printmaking, visual journaling, and so on.  One thing I was afraid of was watercolors.  They seemed unforgiving and even more difficult to control.  But, I decided to take a class with a highly rated teacher at my local museum.  The first class she said “it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t look good just make marks on the paper!” From there, I was hooked.  I learned that I could make art and it could just be for me.  I also learned that just like meditation and yoga, it is a practice.  Something that is always evolving.  Just like all of us.  It doesn’t have to be good and it doesn’t need to impress other people.  You can use a variety of materials. There’s paint, clay, play-doh, glue, wood, fabric, yarn, pencils, markers, blocks and legos.  You can also use stuff just laying around the house like recycled paper, wood scraps, string, aluminum foil, paper plates, staplers and tape.  The possibilities are endless.  

Over these last two weeks of tips, I have sprinkled various ideas about how to incorporate art into different lessons and into learning in general. However, I think art as its own course of study can be important as well. We tend to think of art as a “special” in school.  It is often one of the first subject areas to get cut when the budgets or student’s schedule get too tight.  However, for many students art is what they look forward to. It is what keeps them going to school even if art is scheduled only a few times per week.  For many, it is a place where they can be their introspective selves and just create.  Create fantastical creatures from their imagination or from a story they have read.  Create a world of their own choosing often where they feel safe and accepted.