Art can be perceived in society as self-indulgent and mere entertainment or with a greater intent and perspective it can be a bridge from darkness to light. The Baha’i Faith places a high value on the arts.
Let the loved ones of God, whether young or old, whether male or female, each according to his capabilities, bestir themselves and spare no efforts to acquire the various current branches of knowledge, both spiritual and secular, and of the arts. ~ Baha'i Writings
As a child and a teenager I did not cope well at school. I was aware of a sense of meaninglessness and isolation. But when I was able to participate in the arts I felt completely engaged with life. They gave colour, expansion and an inspiring spark to my experience, they gave me a sense of identity, purpose, momentum and meaning and a way to communicate and connect with myself and others. The arts at that time, 1960’s and 70’s were seen as somewhat of a hobby but I knew they were life itself to me.
I began to recognise the true value of the arts as a young adult working with children with learning difficulties and preschool children. Art and creative thinking could engage them in so many subjects. As I planned for these children’s day I also began to notice a balancing between my logical thinking and my creative thinking, feeling them distinctly as a physical experience. I noticed how much more efficient and effective I was at my job when I considered both these aspects. Shortly after this experience I came across the concept of left and right brain thinking and began to make a conscious choice to balance these two. The left side being associated with the masculine energy of doing, defining and logic whilst the right side is associated with the more feminine energy of intuition, and a flowing of creative ideas. This is not necessarily associated with gender but two distinct energies that are a part of us all.
By the time I reached thirty I was beginning to make sense of myself as an individual but I was also beginning to feel even more isolated. Thankfully I instinctively knew that drugs, either social or prescribed, were not the solution for me. I was also blessed to be born into a family that didn’t engage in them as a coping mechanism for life’s challenges although I can quite understand why people do. The intensity of the emotions and that ever encroaching sense of meaninglessness in my life were quite overwhelming but these eventually caused me to ask that all-important question “if there is a God would you please help me make sense of my life”. I actually heard a response in my mind saying ‘don’t worry, you’ll be alright’. Within two weeks I found myself at a ‘Fireside meeting’ run by my local Baha’i community where I immediately, and somewhat surprisingly to me, felt as if I had come home.
As I was introduced to the Baha’i Writings all my ponderings began to make sense i.e. A harmony between the masculine and famine energies, the balancing of logic with creative thinking as well as the equal valuing of the sciences and of spiritual subjects plus the high value attributed to the arts. The following sentence completely transformed my life.
Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom. ~ Baha'i Writings
As the only light on my horizon at that time I surrendered to this passage to see with interest what might emerge. My life since then has been full of art, dance and music, engaging with more like minded people and filling it with colour, expansion, faith, joy, inspiration and insights.
I went on to tutor young adults at college on the subject of ‘The Therapeutic Benefits of Creativity in the Community’. Here they experienced how the arts, both in observing and participating, can relieve stress and anxiety, providing new sensory experiences and focusing our attention briefly away from our daily worries in a pleasurable and healthy way. It provides a place to explore our self, our beliefs, our hopes and dreams, our past, our future, our abilities, our human weaknesses to be accepted or transformed, to move through inhibitions and to improve self-confidence. It is a safe place to make mistakes and feel ok about them and to trust more in one’s self and in life whilst experiencing a timing and a pattern in the unfolding process of creation. It offers an opportunity to play with ideas in a visual way i.e. to play with the concept of balance and harmony or to express in a healthy way ones sense of imbalance and disharmony. In a therapeutic setting, it can be a mirror of our mind, a place to be honest, relaxed, learn tools of self-care and to explore emotions from fear and grief to joy encouraging us to feel fully alive again; as our feelings and emotions can shut down through upsetting and traumatic experiences in the past or become inhibited by our fears of the future. Art brings us back to the now, this moment, where amazing things can happen. The arts can boost our self-esteem and sense of accomplishment. They allow us to explore new ideas and fresh ways of perceiving, to be expressive and to find symbols in our self-expression. They help us to communicate things that are sometimes too difficult to put into words.
The arts can help us to engage in life with more freedom and to explore our fears of being judged by either ourselves or others. They help us find our authenticity, who we are when not inhibited or limited by others’ often unreasonable expectations. They help us to engage and keep up with our ever emerging identity and uniqueness. The arts help me to remember where my soul and my spirit live.
Creativity helps to stimulate our mind triggering a dopamine release a feel-good neurotransmitter in the brain, keeping it active, boosting our concentration and stimulating both the unconscious and conscious brain functions. All this improves mental health which has the knock on effect of improving physical health. As we look at our own and others art it can unite us in our human condition whilst supporting and encouraging us to grow and develop. The arts can help us to enjoy being human again in place of the fear that abounds at the moment. Art can be a place of worship.
The arts encourage observational and listening skills both of our self and others and can bring us together in team and community work easing feelings of isolation. The sense of unity and comradeship from singing, dancing, creating with others is inspiring.
The arts can be engaged with for the shear enjoyment of colour, movement and sound. The world of art is an adventure. The arts can increase our skills of problem-solving. The skills that we encounter through the arts can be transferred into our everyday life for a fuller and more creative outlook. Life itself can be a mundane affair or an art form or at least a comfortable and acceptable balance of both. It can reflect our own story, represent our inner being. It is a mirror and a bridge to something better.
The human soul is to be compared to a weaver; the human life is the thing woven, the cloth; the human body, principally the brain, is the tool, the instrument with which the weaving is done. ~ Baha'i Writings
The warp for the loom is the human environment, the time, the parents, the religion, nationality, society.
The human soul then throws across the warp-threads the filling or woof by means of the shuttle that is the five senses, imagination and action, whereby up to the end of life as we say, are developed the masterpieces of the human life. ~ Baha'i Writings
It seems to me that the arts can help us learn invaluable skills for this creative process called ‘life’ so that we can have more say in its design. It truly is a safe and gentle, though sometimes challenging and stretching, bridge of colour by which to transition this world. During easy times and challenging times it can delight and enlighten, sooth and inspire as well as make sense of our situations and emotions. I would even go as far as to say that the arts assist humanity:
To carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. ~ Baha'i Writings
The arts are still sometimes seen as quite superficial and indulgent even a distraction to life, and there is much art that suggests that it is but then art is here to reflect the society in which we live. Say no more! But looking beneath the surface we experience the many benefits that the arts can bring.
Our human anxiety needs to be managed and a part of that management is to channel it in positive ways. It is not self-indulgent to ‘know thyself’ if it enables us to engage with life and people and social issues in a more health and happy way.
Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and centre your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements. ~ Baha'i Writings
Turn thy sight unto thyself that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self subsisting. ~ Baha'i Writings
Musician and educator Daniel C. Jordan reflects on the Baha’i writings in his excellent book ‘Becoming Your True Self.’ He writes:
Anxiety can be seen as energy without a goal. The only successful way to deal with anxiety is to treat that energy as a gift and find a concrete goal for it which will serve the more basic goal or purpose of developing capacities for loving and knowing. ~ Daniel C. Jordan
Every created thing in the whole universe is but a door leading unto His knowledge. ~ Baha'i Writings