“Art Saves the Day”

Tuesday night I saw Marian Call in a little coffee shop concert. If you do not know her work you should. She is a singer with a wonderful, powerful voice AND she plays the typewriter. She is a self proclaimed geek and nerd and writes songs based on Firefly among other great things. Mariam Call is firmly on my Very Cool People I Admire list. (By the way I think everyone should have such a list. It is not about putting those people on a pedestal but about learning more and more about all the different ways people build amazing lives.)

Mariam is from Alaska and she has been doing a DIY tour of the Lower 48 for the past several months. You can read her blog here or follow @mariancall on Twitter here. Like so many artists these days, especially musicians, Mariam is Making Art and Building Community by connecting directly with her fans and potential fans in powerful and innovative ways. You’ll hear more about her here I am sure, not only because she is a musician I like, but because this idea of making both art and community together is a big part of what I see happening with AletaWorks.

So, Tuesday night, as part of an introduction to one of her songs, Mariam said the following: “Art saves the day. When you don’t know what to do art saves the day.” These words reached out and bonked me on the head. I’ve been spending a lot of time not knowing what to do lately. I’m in a time of transition and I truly have no idea how things are going to work out over the next weeks and months. I do know that Art, broadly defined, really does save the day. Sometimes it comes in the mode of appreciating someone else’s art. Sometimes it comes from making your own art. Sometimes it involves building a website.

Making art, and engaging with art others have made, takes us out of the places where we find ourselves stuck, or gives us a different perspective on those places. And! By “art” here I mean anything that engages one creatively.

Art Saves The Day! Thanks, Miriam, for the reminder!