Have a Art

And an Opinion!

Talking to a friend recently in the apartment, I came to the realization that a lot of people don't express themselves very often or very forcefully. There's a lot of hiding and a lot of covering up around here, and though I don't necessarily believe conformity is always bad (it's what keeps society together, really), there's a lot of unnecessary self-oppression out there.

Over-suppression of personal attributes leads to a lot of bad things: be it rage, self-righteousness, depression, overall boringness, or the oppression of others, it's not a good thing. I realized that many of the people I know who experience this problem don't engage their creative processes frequently. Getting your art on is a step toward breaking out into a wider world of free self-expression, enhancing the lives of, well, pretty much everyone.

You may say that you are bad at writing, music, and the visual arts, but note that many other forms exist: perhaps gastronomy or sculpture or photography is more your bag. Also note that simply performing music, while relaxing and certainly a skill, is not really a creative endeavor. Writing music is the creative side of this pursuit.

I'm not trying to tell you what to do, but just a thought if you find yourself trapped in your own head, or feel like a slave of The Man, get your art on, and you'll probably feel better. Make it a habit, and you'll find that your social abilities will also increase.

Secondly, if you really feel trapped, perhaps you're also suppressing your opinions. We often don't express our opinions on things because we're afraid of being stepped on, or we're just terrified of conflict. If you can just separate your self-worth from the acceptance of your opinion as the incontrovertible truth, you can go far toward actually creating opinions and, well, having a personality to call your own. Maybe this is what people call "finding yourself", but I much prefer "making yourself". In your discussions, you'll find a lot of people disagree with your newly formed opinions. In fact, you may find your opinions changing. Wow. That's a good thing. Also, you may find that your opinions affect the way others view the world. Human interaction--isn't it awesome?