Most of us here at Mississippi School of the Arts have been asked one simple question: why? Why are you pursuing art? Why not do something that is safer, that can guarantee you money?
Art is important for a lot of reasons, and I know we’ve all heard the classic saying that art is what separates us from animals, but it delves deeper than that. Art transcends us past a point of getting from Point A to Point B, elementary school to middle school to high school and so on, job to promotion, etc.
This is about more than a mundane existence; it’s about confronting fear, life, and reaching into a world that’s different than ours. A world where, yes, there can be triangles floating behind someone’s head. Screw it, the triangle can be that someone’s head, and we can make it purple if we want to.
There are plenty of studies out there that art can also physically help you. It can make you happy, do better in other subjects, and even help your general health. Even if we set that aside, art makes you connected with not only yourself, but other people.
I wrote a really personal poem when I was twelve years old. It was pretty good for a twelve year old, if I may say so myself, and my dad was so proud of me. He started showing it to all of his coworkers, even to our neighbor. I was so scared because it revealed details about my life that no one knew. He pointed out that people weren’t actually thinking about me and why I wrote it when they read it. They are instead letting it reflect inside of them, thinking of their own experiences, and how they can relate to it. It bonds us together in that way.
It changes your perspective on things. It can help you back up and look at things on a bigger scale, or get closer and even see tiny little details that you never would have seen. It can take you to lives that you’ll never have, parts of the world that you’ve never visited, and concepts you never would have thought of on your own. It can make you feel connected to someone halfway across the world and help you understand their lives. It makes you nicer, if you let it.
Bad art is important, too. I might even argue that it’s more important than good art. I didn’t pick up a pen and suddenly write a wonderful story one day. I practiced for years, and out of the ten years I’ve been writing, I’d say that I’d cringe at eight and a half of them.
Even if you don’t hone your craft, it’s important to stay bad as well. Art is about expression, not perfection. I can’t even draw a straight line, but I’ve started an art journal. You have to get out of your comfort zone and stop being afraid of feeling embarrassed or not being perfect at something your first time doing it.
You should do something that scares you today. Try something new.
