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You Are An Artist

While growing up, we all had that one artist we worshiped like they’re our One True God. Actors, musicians, writers, animators; we see them as larger than life itself. For many of us, art is the only form of therapy we know; the only thing that made us feel seen. But this idolization has unintentionally made the definition of art exclusive. And our view of art and artists has grown narrower and narrower.
I recently heard Will Smith say ‘Parenting is more Art than Science’. This line is fascinating as it beautifully deters from what art is usually connoted to.  It serves as a reminder that life itself is more art than science, and there is creative energy in every move we make. We often lose sight of this; suffocated by thousands of books telling us how life should be lived; and education that numbs the childlike wonder that we should foster in every single aspect of our life.  From the food we cook and the way we want our breakfast bowls to look like; to the way we prefer our bedrooms to have walls filled with posters and fairy lights, or rather something minimalistic; or the way we take care of our plants choosing either one small succulent or a forest of creepers; or even our preference in clothes; I mean the choice needn’t even be physical at all, even the way we think and feel; all of that reeks of our creative expression.
And You are an artist.
All of us at some point have felt the insecurity of not being the creative kind, or feeling derivative in what you create. And for all of us, social media has only made that insecurity worse. This is not to take away the glory of people we generally do call ‘artists’, but recognition of the fact that all of us have that same essence in us. Art is only dictated by what the creator chooses to enrich with his attention. And we all have that ability in us. We’re all born artists.
Finding artistic enthusiasm in whatever it is that you’re doing every day is what makes life joyful. In every step and move you make, there is a possibility for you to look at it a little differently and make it uniquely yours. That childlike wonder that makes life so exciting and new, that’s what creators tap into to make art.
Even the mundane parts of life, can lead to something. All we have to do is look.