Debra Baker

Devoting this one to the oil paint stains on my bedroom carpet. Yep. It's a rental. I can't have nice things.

Art. It's weird. Barely logical. Unexplainable They say humans are the only animals to make it, yet we train elephants and dogs to do it. We train ourselves too, I've never seen someone pick up a paintbrush without guidance, or write a lyric or a line without having ever listened to the radio or read poetry. So, what sets us apart from them? What primal part of a human being knows art? I like to imagine that we like music because it sounds like a heartbeat. Or a birdsong. We've been programmed to find birdsong relaxing. If the environment is prime for birds, it's probably prime for us as well. Did you know that birds cannot sing if it's too hot? As the planet warms, what will take it's place? I hope we never forget the sound of a bird call. In a sense, it is music at it's earliest form. Beaten only by the beating of a human heart.

     And why do we love paintings? Is it the thought of the artist toiling and perfecting and creating something on their own accord? Is it the chalkiness? Or the blur of brushstrokes? The ponderous miracle of the illusion of a 3D world on a 2D surface? Or is it the color? We know that blue and green are calming colors. But is it instinct or because they are supposed to be calming. Is it nature or nurture? When the planet warms and the trees die and rivers warm up, will we desire more green and blue paint? I hope it doesn't run out.

And dance. Oh how beautiful is dance. Why do we find so much joy in shaking our hips to that heartbeat beat and to watch others wave their arms to the vibrato of strings. When the planet warms and crops dry up and animals die and food prices rise, will we be too hungry to jive, too tired to tap, too sad to leap for joy. I hope not.

Art is weird. Barely logical. Unexplainable. But it is necessary. it's been planted in our blood and it flows through our brains. Art may not make sense, but it is just as driving as sex or food or comfort. The most vital things are often the hardest to understand. Understanding is useless. Art is not.

https://www.change.org/year-in-review/2014?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=218876&alert_id=cbUonqdWoV_qU54jY%2FDdpuR8Hufy15AUs%2FDCvkzWHVFL1QKwIu6beQ%3D

This is a short video. Unfortunately, it's not on YouTube so blogger won't support it, but I put in a
screen shot so you know what you're clicking on. The video's an ad for Change.org, but I thought that it touched on some really important things. Change.org is website for online petitions, and it's the biggest of it's kind. Last year, 5,000 petitions made on the site were successful, or one every hour. A 27 year old cancer survivor stopped a hazardous coal plant from being built. Two girls started a movement to prevent female genital mutilation. Journalists were released from prison. Libraries and Bison alike were saved. Businesses from Coco Cola to Barbie agreed to change they're practices and the NYPD launched a body cam project. I've seen many people saying that these kinds of sites don't make a difference. This proves that these websites are actually really helpful, that one person can make a difference; that thousands of simple signatures can make a bigger one.

One of the things that has always annoyed me is people saying that they have nothing to do. (Though I have done this many times.) Being bored is fine. Everybody get's bored, and when there's not enough outside stimulation to keep our brains happy, it can be hard to motivate yourself to get up and do something to un-bore yourself. But please, do not say that you have nothing to do. Half the world is starving and without functioning toilets and sinks, the ice caps are melting, schools suck and like, a lot of other terrible things that could use your help. You live with at least a million other people in a hubbub of different tastes and sights and scents, and, most likely right in front of you, is a magical box with 99.98% of anything you could ever want to know. There is ALWAYS something to do. Not only something to do, but there are always worthwhile, productive, people helping, and exciting things to do. You just have to move your butt. Anyways, if you want something easy and worthwhile to fill your time, go to a petition site. Look for things that you care about. Educate yourself about what's happening in the world. Add your signature to a few causes that catch your attention. You'll be helping to change the world, I promise you it's a good use of your time, and "I was helping to save a starving family in Mongolia," is more likely to get you an extension than "I was whining to my friends on Facebook."