Open Editions: Art Brings Hope

Beautiful art increases hope, love, and compassion.

Hate, fear, intolerance, and terrorism thrive in darkness and the perpetrators hide their faces. The cockroaches scurry and hide when the light of day returns. The sunrise brings with it the birth of a new day, a new beginning, a new chance at life and all things, and it brings hope. Life is about balance, there is light but also darkness, love but also hate, good but also bad. There is no shortage of evil in the world, we are literally in a war between good and evil, this has been going forever, but it seems to be accelerating, you can feel it, it's tangible, you know it. Everyone of us face struggles in life, each of us struggle in different ways with different things. We all face obstacles so that we may be the hero of our own story. YOU are a warrior ! By creating or supporting beautiful art, it can lift the spirits of those who see it, even if only briefly. By spreading beauty, we are bringing light and love to the world which fights against darkness and hate. By it's mere existence it adds weight to the positive side of the equation. There are two sides to every coin, every cloud has a silver lining. There is a rhythm to life, a rise and fall, the pendulum swings back and forth from one extreme to the other. The goal is to find balance in your life between all things. Too much attention in one area, will eventually create neglect in other areas, each with different consequences. All should try to balance: Internal: Mind, heart, & health External: Work, social, family & fun

Art lightens the load of the burdens of living, beauty reminds us what a miracle life is and how happy and lucky we are to be alive. Creation and appreciation of art directly fights evil and hate by counterbalancing the negative emotions of fear, hate, oppression etc. The Beatles sang, 'All you need is love' singing is merely another art form; expressed with the mouth and experienced with the ears. Visual art is expressed with the hands and experienced with the eyes and heart. Beautiful art can lower your blood pressure, reduce stress, and help balance your life in harmony with all things. Surround yourself with beauty. Try to eliminate or minimize negative things and toxic people. When someone is ugly or rude, smile and wave and dismiss it, don't take it personally often the person is a stranger, and is merely projecting their feelings by something causing them grief and is entirely unrelated to you and the moment. It can be contagious, and if you are off balance, it's more likely you will react negatively and feed the negative energy. If you are well balanced, your contentment and self awareness is a shield that will deflect this negative energy and you can smile and wave and spread your positivity, rather than absorbing their negativity. I'm repeating the same intention in different ways, hoping to communicate my thoughts and feelings. The details are not important, the gist of my intent should be received as encouragement, support, love, hope, and help to you. If overwhelmed, take a deep breath. You can do the thing to reach your goal. Don't let guilt have power over you, it is not your fault, don't feel guilty. Don't worry about the past or the future, live in the moment and you can be free. Much love and respect my friend, become the person you wish you were. Let go of anger and resentment, take responsibility for your situation and take baby steps to change it for the better. This often can be started by determining the difference between wants and needs, and put needs first.