Art and Life

"Life is not a support system for art. It is the other way around" - Stephen King

Let me make one thing very clear up front. Stephen King rocks.  There are very few famous people that I am crazy about.  You know, the put-them-on-a-pedestal and drool-over-everything-they-do kind of admiration.  No, let me correct that statement.  I can't think of one other famous person I feel that way about.  But Mr King - well, there is a bit of hero worship going on with me where he is concerned.  He is a brilliant writer.  If you are a writer, or aspire to be a writer, and have not read his book On Writing, you must.  It's straightforward and clear and inspiring.  Even non-writers would enjoy it.  The first half is about his journey to become an author and it's wonderful.

Anyway, it's not only his writing I admire.  His views on writing and art, his philosophy about them, are spot on and he has a way of expressing them perfectly. The quote at the top of this article is a great example.

"Life is not a support system for art. It is the other way around". I love that! He is absolutely right! Not just the art we see in museums, the stuff of the rich crowd and snobs - although that art is beautiful - but art in every form.  Writing is art.  Music, sculpture, poetry, dance - any creative form of expression is art. 

I must agree with William Blake as well that repression of our emotions is deadly to our spirit.  Art in any form is an expression of our emotions, our spirit and creating it and enjoying it is one of the healthiest things we can do. It is a support system for life. In creating it we express ourselves, nurturing our spirits. In experiencing someone else's creation of art we connect with their emotion or the experience touches something inside our own spirit.  Art keeps us in touch with who we are, with our very essence.