Member-only story
It’s a matter of (he)art
What is art? I wonder aloud…
I remember this conversation from the documentary “As Dreamers Do”, a biography of Walt Disney released in 2014. Young Walt rushes home to tell his aunt that he sold his first painting. But he confesses that he feels he should grow up in order to be a “real” artist.
Aunt: Is that what you want to be when you grow up? An artist?
Walt: Well, yeah. But I want to be something more.
Aunt: Like what? The President of the United States?
Walt: Well, not like President. I want to have the power to change people’s lives somehow.
Aunt: Well, art can change people as well.
Walt: How?
Aunt: Well, art has power to make us happy or sad. It has a power to help us see things differently, or we see something and we feel it too, and that helps us know we are not alone. Art can challenge people. It can change people.
This little conversation made me think of how all of us need to have that spark of an artist within us. It’s a form of expressing yourself and being of help to others at the same time. However, I don’t mean you should abandon everything you’re doing and stock up a pile of paintbrushes and canvasses.
