Creativity Must Not Die!

A lot of people I know or know of—artists, musicians, writers, journalist—are undergoing some serious identity crises. Many of them feel that, in the wake of the destruction and total shift in the balance of the world, their Master of Fine Arts or pithy critiques of art-house cinema are no longer relevant. With the downturn in the economy, they are wondering what they can do on a practical level to earn money—especially if “patronage” dries up.

In my opinion, creativity must NOT STOP. That would create a victory for the terrorists. We must create create create—all we can. Even non-artists should do something creative in their spare time. Barring that, we should all take some time to appreciate and be tranformed by something beautiful, artful, well-designed.

It’s part of what makes us human, and in the face of inhumane events, it’s all we have.

I can’t tell somebody who lives off of their art what they can do if the money stops coming in. But I do know that if she is really an artist, she won’t be able to stop creating art; even if she can only create in her mind or in spare moments.