The Art of Life or Life as Art

When we speak of 'art' as a subject, we tend to solidify it so that we call to mind things that have been made like paintings, sculptures, pieces of music or other forms. This is a content or 'outcome' approach to art that does not address the deeper level of the creative process.

The creative process of art and the creative process of life are the same. They emerge from the same flow and originate at the same Source. They both have as their motive the need to express the essential self. Art-as-process in its most fundamental sense is a Divinely ordained process - the inner being or soul wanting to express on the physical plane. Here, the question is not whether one has talent or what the ultimate form will be that gives shape to that expression, but what the inner drive or longing is to communicate what needs to be said. This will-to-express can take any form or no form. It is the drive of the inner being that creates beauty, that creates relationships that are loving and that creates the shape of a life itself.

We need to find a new language in which to speak of this so that art and life no longer seem so separate. Thinking of both as emanating from the inner wellspring that wants to live fully helps our understanding. Both art and life are expressions of our will-to-live, and not only our will-to-live, but God's will to live and to express through us.

More about this subject can be discovered by ordering the CD called "Art, Spirituality, and the Choice to Live," a Dharma talk given by Julie Redstone recently. For inquiries contact information @lightomega.org.