Short Definitions of Visual Art, Music, and Literature

Visual Art: the outcome of creative effort as a means of expression appreciated by sight.

Music: the outcome of creative effort as a means of expression of sound in time, appreciated aurally.

Literature: the outcome of creative effort as a means of expression using meaning and ideas.

I am drawn to the short form, whether using light, sound, or words. The greatest creative challenge is to express something simply that is worth returning to.

Hurt and Harm

I imagine a day without one thing I value: food, water, shelter, a single sense, the loss of memory, words, human contact, hope, dignity, purpose, pleasure, love. The scarcity of any one of these causes me unease, their absence harms.

When I believe these things are at risk or desire more, I hurt, either within, or others.

Eclipse

I watched a total eclipse of the sun on a sandy beech on the south western edge of England. The clouds parted a minute before totality, and I, together with family and strangers, experienced the spontaneous, shared emotion and immeasurable wonder of an all enveloping celestial event. Those on the highest cliff in Cornwall could still only see under half the distance to the edge of totality.

For a short time, the unconstrained awe and rapture of something bigger dispels our petty differences.