Why art matters in difficult times

  • Post category:Book NewsCreativity
  • Reading time:2 mins read

Writing at the Wellspring: Tapping the Source of Your Inner Genius is now fully typeset and laid out, and the proofs have been through a couple of rounds of corrections. Here’s a two-page spread from the book’s introduction. It’s a section where I talk about why art matters in difficult times. Creative pursuits, following your muse or daemon, can seem trivial in an age bristling with real-world crises. I argue that this impression is mistaken, as artistic creativity is all the more important at a time like this.

Yesterday I came across a popular TEDx talk from five months ago in which author and creativity coach Amie McNee makes the very same point, though with some different emphases. Titled “The Case for Making Art When the World Is on Fire,” it resonates strongly with my words in the Wellspring intro, as reflected in the video’s official description:

The world is on fire—figuratively and literally. And in the middle of all this chaos, I want you to make art. In this passionate and empowering TEDx talk, writer and creative coach Amie McNee challenges the idea that art is frivolous or indulgent in difficult times. She argues that creativity is not a luxury—it’s a necessity. Art calms us, connects us, and gives us purpose. It heals our bodies, minds, and communities. More than that, it’s an act of rebellion, a tool for hope, and a legacy that outlasts us all. If you’ve ever felt like your creativity doesn’t matter, like painting, writing, singing, or creating is a waste of time in a world with so many problems—this talk is for you.

The talk is well worth listening to:

Writing at the Wellspring is scheduled for a November release, with cover art currently in the works. For progress updates and launch news, you can subscribe to this blog or to my Living Dark newsletter. Or to both. I’ll let you know when preorders are available.

Art as escape, art as reality

  • Post category:Uncategorized
  • Reading time:2 mins read

There’s such a deep and delicate divide between art and ideas as expressions of reality and art and ideas as escapes from reality. Their status and function in each of our lives hinges on our inner state and attitude, our relative clarity of vision and intent whenever we engage with them, whether as creators or appreciators. I’m convinced that for most of us, most of the time, including me, the escapist intent, the desire to use art and ideas to abstract away from living reality, is dominant. I could cut out more than 90% of my reading, viewing, thinking, and writing, and lose nothing of value. In fact, I’d gain clarity and peace by lopping off one of the prime fuel sources for the mad monkey mind.

This is a key self-recognition, because that monkey mind is so very good at chattering to itself about how the exact opposite is true, about the supposed supreme spiritual value of continuing to wallow in mental and artistic representations of reality instead of just dropping the whole thing and resting in the present reality of what simply and actually is. This primary, unmediated Real is what that misguided outer search via artificial means is really after all along.

Ramana Maharshi famously observed that reality is simple, but we make it complicated. He said the average person won’t be content when told the simple truth, that “the kingdom of heaven is within you,” and will instead demand the elaboration of complex religious systems. The same holds true for our daily engagement with all of life. Life is simple. Reality is simple. It’s all given right here, with no holding back, immediately and totally, all of it at this moment. But we feel that we need to think something, say something, do something, create something, see/feel/hear know something, before it’s really real. The ultimate cosmic self-punking.