The Power of Creativity

Image courtesy of National Gallery, London

I have spent the morning listening to the symphonies of Gustav Mahler.
I know very little about him but recognise much of his work. It has an uplifting quality to it. You feel as if you're on one of those large Eagles last seen in Middle Earth. You are flying high past mountain tops and over lush green valleys. The wind is blowing through your hair (assuming you're not bald which I'm not and its my dream). The joy that music can bring is unquantifiable. It is knowing that your day is better for hearing it.

Gustav Mahler

Similarly I recently visited the National Gallery in London. Wandered around for a bit looking intellectual and appreciating the brush strokes, the composition, the passion the painter imparts into their work. Then I reached the Haywain by John Constable. Probably the most famous English landscape painting ever produced. I sat looking at it for ten minutes. It is a remarkable work of art. The detail, the feeling, the beauty of it is staggering. It is probably not a fashionable piece to admire. Not very avant grade or challenging. It is however beautiful. It lifted my soul and made me smile. I can only imagine that the artist felt the same as he stood and looked at the scene before him. It is pretty pointless to try and imagine the artists emotions as he produced this painting and it gets a tad pretentious too. He might have been miserable during the whole process of painting it. He may've entered his studio in the morning thinking 'Oh no that bloody cart and pond painting'. For those ten minutes however, I sat silently and smiled at his work.

We need art, music, literature in our lives. We need to make the mundane feel less so. I'm using 'We" because you just have to trust me its for the best. You don't have to like what I do. You don't have to appreciate, enjoy, escape to my choices. You may well be transported to a better place by Justin Bieber, Andy Warhol, Teletubbies? Its recognising that we all need the products of creativity to make our lives richer.
The recent loss of David Bowie brought forth an outpouring of love for all that he gave to the world. It wasn't just his music, it was his sense of style and how it gave millions the permission to express themselves. He was a sponge to popular culture and used, mixed that which inspired him. He in turn did this for so many fans and followers. A good friend of mine was a lifelong Bowie aficionado. I have often seen him smile instantly a Bowie track comes on, as if an internal switch has been flicked.
The point is that art is making a connection. It is enhancing the ordinary.
I took a photo yesterday. It was a small patch of Daffodils in a meadow that three months ago was under 6ft of flood water. I spotted them standing alone in the brown grass. They inspired me. I took the picture then shared it. I ended the caption with 'There is always hope'. I often pass beauty, art because I am too busy with the mundane. To stop, to soak up, to take in the simple beauty in creativity makes all the difference.
I could take up drinking or drugs but they are expensive and they just enable you to forget, to block out the unbearable and you often feel like shite when you're not partaking. I write poems and books to express myself. But that isn't enough. So next time you listen to a favourite piece of music, look at a painting, read a book or poem (preferably a good one by me), enjoy how art has enriched your life for that moment.

Mahlers 1st Symphony conducted by Leonard Bernstein. A pretty amazing combination of composer, orchestra and conductor.