The other day, I saw a quote by the writer Kurt Vonnegut: “The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.” I felt it was time to remind you and myself what this column is really about. I started writing this column to encourage us to find our inner artist (we all have one) and to create in some way every day. Yes, I also write this to have an outlet for my rantings, my family needs a break every now and then. But mainly, I wanted to encourage people to be the artists they are meant to be. I think it is of the utmost importance. Why is it so important? I believe that each one of us was put here on this earth for a unique purpose. Everyday life tends to squash our uniqueness. One of my regular complaints is how our current society or culture is hard on our uniqueness. Part of the cultural squashing of our unique purposes is the idea that we need to “go big or go home” with our creativity and/or be able to make money with it. The reason both of these are a problem is that we tend to go through whatever creative urges we have and if we cannot do them in a big, splashy way or parlay them into a career, we deem them petty and worthless and stuff them back in the box. Open the box of your artist’s tools again and look at them with a different purpose in mind. How can you enrich your life and the lives of people around you? Not “get rich,” but “enrich?” I am certainly not a poet nor a lover of poetry. Once my daughter had a poetry-writing assignment for school and the whole family was brainstorming ideas for her. I ended up writing an epic-length, very silly poem that had something to do with the center-of-the-face pimple that most every adolescent has to deal with at least once. The poem has long since been tossed and I cannot remember any of the lines from it, but I have a very clear memory of sitting at the table, wearing my poet costume (a black beret and wayfarer sunglasses), laughing with my family. The act of creation of a sorry, forgotten poem enriched my life and the lives of my family. This past Saturday evening, my son and I enjoyed the creativity of many people by attending the Pecan Jam. Besides getting to see one of our favorite bands, we enjoyed everything about the way the event had been set up. The park was beautiful with the lights strung up in the trees. The atmosphere that had been created by the organizers was wonderful and relaxed. Maybe they did not realize that they were being artistic when they were planning this event, but everything from the parking management to the location of the booths contributed to our enjoyment of the event. Thanks to all of you who enriched our lives!! springcreekartsguild@gmail.comThe other day, I saw a quote by the writer Kurt Vonnegut: “The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.” I felt it was time to remind you and myself what this column is really about. I started writing this column to encourage us to find our inner artist (we all have one) and to create in some way every day. Yes, I also write this to have an outlet for my rantings, my family needs a break every now and then. But mainly, I wanted to encourage people to be the artists they are meant to be. I think it is of the utmost importance. Why is it so important? I believe that each one of us was put here on this earth for a unique purpose. Everyday life tends to squash our uniqueness. One of my regular complaints is how our current society or culture is hard on our uniqueness. Part of the cultural squashing of our unique purposes is the idea that we need to “go big or go home” with our creativity and/or be able to make money with it. The reason both of these are a problem is that we tend to go through whatever creative urges we have and if we cannot do them in a big, splashy way or parlay them into a career, we deem them petty and worthless and stuff them back in the box. Open the box of your artist’s tools again and look at them with a different purpose in mind. How can you enrich your life and the lives of people around you? Not “get rich,” but “enrich?” I am certainly not a poet nor a lover of poetry. Once my daughter had a poetry-writing assignment for school and the whole family was brainstorming ideas for her. I ended up writing an epic-length, very silly poem that had something to do with the center-of-the-face pimple that most every adolescent has to deal with at least once. The poem has long since been tossed and I cannot remember any of the lines from it, but I have a very clear memory of sitting at the table, wearing my poet costume (a black beret and wayfarer sunglasses), laughing with my family. The act of creation of a sorry, forgotten poem enriched my life and the lives of my family. This past Saturday evening, my son and I enjoyed the creativity of many people by attending the Pecan Jam. Besides getting to see one of our favorite bands, we enjoyed everything about the way the event had been set up. The park was beautiful with the lights strung up in the trees. The atmosphere that had been created by the organizers was wonderful and relaxed. Maybe they did not realize that they were being artistic when they were planning this event, but everything from the parking management to the location of the booths contributed to our enjoyment of the event. Thanks to all of you who enriched our lives!! springcreekartsguild@gmail.com