Part 11: The Importance of the Arts in Following Your Heart’s Desire

Welcome to Part 11 of Your Heart’s Desire. 
As I said last week we would have a break
from doing exercises in order to give you more time
to complete your inventories.

So today we will discuss the importance of the arts
in following your Heart’s Desire.

************************************************

What are you?

You

 are a part of God’s self expression. 

God sings a song, and that song is you.

Why does God sing?

For sheer joy.

This

 is the Absolute Truth.

-Emmet Fox-

 

The Arts seek to express the colors, flavors, fragrance, songs, and dances of the soul.  They seek to draw the forces of nature to and through them to be shared with others in ways that vibrate souls together, like strummed strings of the harp.  

They provide an outlet and vehicle for the handling of difficult emotions and experiences, traumas as well as intense joys.  And therefore, as agents and emissaries of the beauty of the soul, they help clear the channel of the whisperings of God so that we are better able to follow (or dance with) our Heart’s Desire.

But some of you might already be thinking, “Then my dreams are doomed.  I can’t draw, I can’t write poetry, I can’t sing or play a musical instrument, and I most certainly can’t dance!”

To which I reply: Hold on.  I am not in any way suggesting, even a little bit, that you need to be an accomplished artist, a published poet, or a recording star in order to manifest your dreams.  What I am saying is this: 

Those things you just thought up there…all those “cant’s”…they’re lies. 

They are all lies someone told you way early on and you believed them.  That’s number one. 

Number two, everyone, by virtue of being human; by virtue of being a child of an Infinitely Creative Creator—the Ultimate Poet, Artist, Singer, Dancer, and Storyteller—means you have, whether you believe it or feel it—the ability to create artistically, poetically, and musically. 

You, by virtue of being part of the music of God have the ability to dance with your every step.  In fact, when one stops to consider the very act of walking and how it takes the knowledge of the space in front of you, and of the space behind; how it takes the complete balancing of the head on the torso; and the gentle sway of the limbs; when one considers the delicate, microscopic hairs in your ears and the tiny, dew drops of fluid in your ears and how they all work together to keep you upright—you must acknowledge that your every step is an orchestrated dance, a thing of beauty often overlooked.  You have the ability to move through space, like visible poetry.  And that’s just walking. 

The same goes for the acts of speaking, seeing, tasting, touching, and so on.  Everything you and your body does is artistic and creative—you are constantly inhaling bits of sensory information and converting them to some sort of expression of beauty. 

The soul has to express itself…It is a law—no, it is more than a law; it simply is the way it is.  Creativity is part and parcel of the human experience.  As the body breathes, so the soul creates. 

Every child I have ever met (and I’ve met lots of children having been a teacher for the past 15 years) sings.  They all draw.  They all make up stories and love rhyme and rhythm.  All of them.  I have never found a single exception.  Ever. 

But where do these impulses to create go?  They are taught out of us in many schools and homes.  They are crushed out of us by parents and teachers that focus too soon and too much on academics.  Adults who have had their own dreams stolen and their own creativity squashed, forcibly turn children’s faces away from the arts in favor of cold, hard (dead) facts.  This is one of the main reasons why American schools are failing in so many respects.  They have lost beauty.  But that’s another story. 

And there’s also other types of traumas (for the discounting and removal of art and beauty is a trauma).  There are other types of abuse, neglect, and so on that also create inhibitions within us, that also pervert and damage the soul’s inherent desire for beauty.  And while the natural inclination of the soul is always towards beauty, when damaged through abuse or addictions, the soul sometimes creates mayhem and havoc, discord, and storms of violence. 

The point is you were born with artistic and musical gifts.  You were born with a desire to tell stories whether those stories are in rhyme or prose, true or fantasy. 

After I began working through my own abuse memories and addictions, and began actively following my Heart’s Desire, deep-seated impulses to express what was happening in my soul began to surface.  My desire to share the joy and wonder at what was happening grew. And in my case, I began cultivating my artistic and musical talents.  I began writing poetry.  And my soul blossomed.  With Lefty’s help, the more creativity I shared the more I was inspired to create and to share.  I started the Wonder Child Blog.  I started a YouTube channel to share my music.  And my soul became a garden.

Were there doubts and inner critics? Yes!  I had only begun dealing with my negative body image issues, for example, and there I was being videotaped singing and playing guitar.  There I was posting videos of myself on the world-wide web. 

I had to surrender my inhibitions and perfectionism.  I had to move through shame.  I had to learn the one characteristic that makes us human—I simply had to learn to play.  And when I say “had to,” I mean that literally.  My soul’s flowering had to manifest in the same way the rose has to when given the proper care and setting.

So I encourage you to simply draw.  Sing.  Become conscious that your every move bespeaks a secret dance.  And don’t worry about mistakes or looking goofy, or screwing up. Be playful, splash the paint, make a mess, write pure drivel, have fun with it all, laugh with it.  After all, “no art,” said Rudolf Steiner, “can be mastered without humor.”

But if learning to sing or draw or write seems like too much right now, then find writers that inspire you and read them.  Find music you enjoy and listen to it.  Find artists you admire and go to the museum or the library and look at their artwork.  Allow creativity to begin flowing through you.  Memorize a poem, learn it by heart.  Study the life of a great artist. Sing in the car or the shower.  Doodle during a business meeting or on a napkin at a restaurant—anything—just begin and watch your heart open.

 

To end this entry, here is a short list of some of my favorite poets, musicians, and bands:

1). Mary Oliver (poet).

2). William Stafford (poet)

3). Rumi (poet)

4). Rainer Maria Rilke (poet)

5). Emily Dickinson (poet)

6). Van Morrison (singer/songwriter)

7). Jane Siberry (singer/songwriter)

8). Jon Anderson of Yes (singer/songwriter)

9). Israel Kamakawiwo’ole (IZ) (singer/songwriter)  

10). Krishna Das (singer/songwriter)

11). Sigur Ros (Icelandic music group)


12). Roger Hodgson of Supertramp (singer/songwriter)
 

Next week we will continue on with a regular edition of Your Heart’s Desire.  In the mean time, finish your inventories and read them to someone.

And remember to play.


Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog

2 thoughts on “Part 11: The Importance of the Arts in Following Your Heart’s Desire

  1. This hit home. So many children have talents, either those gifts are cultivated or smothered. I wrote daily as a child, winning young author of the year for years in a row, the school play, I was published in childlife magazine and I was showcased in the news for my accomplishments. Until… well abuse comes in many ways. I stopped writing, even though it was an escape that I loved. I could write my own fantasy world. It ended the year my parent told me I’d never be as good as they were, they just didn’t have the opportunities I did, anyway they said they helped me write most of my prize winning books . I was crushed. My writing was mine, but the thought that my own parent was jealous, it stole any joy writing held for me. The outlet it gave me, to take me anywhere was now part of what hurt me.


    • L, thank you for sharing. I can so very much relate to your story. And it will return–that writing you love so much–it can be reclaimed, word by word, line by line. Even if it seems impossible–it can be done. Take your power back by taking time to write even one word a day–then perhaps two, then three–even if you think what comes is terrible–it isn’t…it is part of thawing out the frozen feelings of being betrayed. Once you begin again, and the innocence of writing returns–because it can–you will be stronger to never let anyone–family or otherwise–steal your dreams again. And there is no shame in having your dreams stolen–of collapsing under the weight of abuse. You did your best. And when you are ready–by which I mean just begin where you are–write again and the rivers of words will once again flow. You got this. You are not alone. You are the bravest of superheros.


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