Art Heals

Nandita Godbole
Oct 5
3 min read

*Stack of paintings waiting to be discovered*

ART HEALS

Whether it is a painting, writing, or something else, it is little love-letters the artist first makes and then sends out / makes available to others. They are choosing to articulate their soul into a form. Art represents tactile, tangible pieces of love, compassion, and caring, created to offer healing to those who need it. It is positive energy transformed into a tactile object. Its presence eliminates the negativity and sadness, giving someone else a reason to smile, sigh in gladness, and making room to breathe.

sundail against tan background — *A simple measure of time*

ABOUT TIME

Time spent creating art is time spent not worrying, not stressing, not agonizing, especially about things we can't control. Art gives us control. Time spent consuming art is time spent knowing that someone created something special for your enjoyment. We have options for both: to create and to consume. They give us control.

When the world becomes too much, when you can't do anything, and are paralyzed by anxiety or worry, do something for someone else. It shifts the onus of being present for yourself to being a gentle presence for someone else. Cook for someone you care about, give them a gift - even if it is a gift of your time: call and connect with someone else. The act of doing, giving, and being present does more for someone you care about, while also allowing you to slide back into your own strengths as you heal.

No matter what you do, don't waste anyone's time. Importantly: value your own by protecting it dearly.

STRENGTHEN CONNECTIONS

Dial up the check-ins. Connect with people you care about more intentionally. If you've only liked their posts, message them with a heartfelt note (in a non-creepy way). If you've only texted each other so far, send them a voice memo or, better yet call them. If you've only made time to call each other so far, then visit. If you've visited briefly, then hang out with them for a half a day... It means you care. It will soothe your soul. Promises are often empty until fulfilled. But will it mean anything at the end of the day if we did not live up to the promise of a friendship? Destroy the silence that separates us, and forgive what we don't know. Every day we wake up is an opportunity to live more.

Keep a window open in your soul - to allow yourself room to grow, to heal from sadness, or troubles that can trap you in a time warp of gloom. A closed person is an unhealed person.

RESTORE * BALANCE * KINDNESS

Humans have been awful to each other since the beginning of time. The current state of the world is temporary in all senses of the word. Nothing and no one will last forever. The only thing that will sustain us in these troubled times is knowing we cared enough to be present for ourselves and for someone else. When we lift someone else up, our collective goodness will sustain us all. We become richer by being part of a larger legacy of kindness, goodness, and warmth. Not all of us are brave enough or able to participate in public / traditional ways of protesting things that harm the world we live in, or other humans around us. Maybe we are unable to, or don't know enough. But for all the reasons that keep us from the front lines, our support and our actions towards art and artists can be a form of resistance... it will keep out all that would otherwise deepen divisions.

If you love something (art, a book, a song, a thing), if it brought you even a moment of joy, if it was your reason to smile in that hour that day, share it with someone else. It is a small act of kindness for two people - the person who made you smile, and the person you share it with.

If you receive a gift of love, accept it with the kindness with which it was intended. While it was their karma to choose to give you a gift, it is your karma that attracted that gift. Respect both. Accept both.