Celebrating Everyday Creatives: Embracing the Power of Amateurs

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Dec 19, 2024

Art is power. It is for everyone. And it is calling us to meet the challenges of these uncertain times. We cannot afford to have art confined to the walls of museums or, even, the domain of the famous. It needs to be held around our dining room tables, disrupting our zoom sessions, and lifted up on our protest signs. We are being asked to tell a new story. To paint a reimagined possibility. To cook up a different recipe for the future we want to taste, smell, and sense into.

Art is how we look at the world with fresh eyes and an open heart. I am reminded of a moment with my youngest daughter when she was in elementary school and we were walking home from grandma’s house. Out of the blue, she shared that she was grateful for the sidewalk. She remarked that without the sidewalk it would be unsafe to walk in the street. The sidewalk, this edge between spaces, is where an errand and epiphany can meet at the intersection of the mundane and miraculous. Or as Virada Chatikul, a member of Resonance Network’s Mending of the Arc Circle incanted, “it is in these pedestrian moments, we can all be everyday creatives.”

 

The Power of Amateurs: A Lesson from the Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts

In a meeting for the Ubuntu Climate Initiative, a project with which I’m an advisor, NEA Chair Dr. Maria Rosario-Jackson shared a beautiful piece of etymology, revealing that the word “amateur” has its roots in the Latin word “amare,” which means “to love.” This insight flips the script on the term “amateur,” transforming it from a dismissive label into a badge of passion and dedication.

Chair Rosario-Jackson’s words are a reminder of the importance of celebrating everyday creatives and everyday moments. Those of us who pursue our artistic passions not for profit but for the sheer love and joy of it (or because we must) are connecting with our greater human expression. This struck a chord with me as I reflected on my own creative practices, which include poetry (see The Heart is Everything, a collaboration with Zen Master Norma Wong and sister network Collective Acceleration), and more recently my first art installation focused on empathy and democracy.

Like many of us, I had sometimes felt that my creative endeavors were less valid because they were not part of my professional life. However, my art has become a ritual and part of how I heal within, with others, and with our planet. And sometimes, it is just a way to express the hope or aches of life.

 

Mending the Arc Circle: A Community Redefining Creative Agency

In an age where specialization often overshadows general creativity, groups like Mending the Arc circle are emerging to shift this perspective. These circles are creating new rituals and practices that affirm our creative agency, pushing us to embrace the idea that we are all everyday creatives telling, dancing, painting a world both ancient and emergent.

As writer and interdisciplinary artist Virada acknowledged, by celebrating everyday creatives, we invite more people to come together. This call to action encourages us to acknowledge the creative spark that exists within all of us, regardless of our professional titles or artistic accomplishments. It reminds us that our love for creating is a powerful and valuable force that can lead to both personal growth and the transformation of our communities.

After the recent elections, I was at a gathering in Bolinas, north of San Francisco, high on the bluffs looking out over the Pacific Ocean. There, author and peacemaking mystic Orland Bishop invited us at the beginning of the retreat to remember our purpose. He said, “What we remember, we restore. What we restore, we sustain.” We have to remember the artist within, so we can restore and sustain our human expression.

 

Singing as a Birthright, not a Commodification of Voices

Another member of the Mending the Arc circle, Larisa Benson, shared a perspective that resonates deeply with the essence of everyday creatives. She explained the idea that “I can’t sing” often stems from the commodification of voices. A songs value should not be measured by the number of listeners or downloads. Instead, she says that “singing is a birthright that belongs to all of us,” emphasizing the emotional and bodily experience of singing over the need for perfection.

There is a saying in Zimbabwe: “If you can walk, you can dance. If you can talk, you can sing.” This outlook invites us to reclaim our creative voices and express ourselves authentically. It encourages us to engage in creative pursuits because they resonate with our souls and not because they must meet some external norm. We are re-norming possibility.

 

The Creative Tapestry of Everyday Life

In a world that is often driven by productivity and expertise, it’s vital to embrace the notion of everyday creatives. NEA Chair Rosario-Jackson reminds us to focus on what counts: love. Sometimes our love is born of gratitude and other times grief. Wherever the inspiration comes from, we are invited to give it color, shape, and sound.

The love of art transforms to something even more magical when we practice it in community. Like Professor Cornell West said, “Justice is what love looks like in public.” Who is your circle? Or maybe join ours. Mending the Arc celebrates the sidewalks in your life — those edges that carry you day to day, often invisible and unnoticed, but always present. Our creativity is our birthright, a powerful and precious gift that can bring joy, healing, and meaning to our everyday lives. So, let us embrace our creative agency…our passion and love for the process of creating the everyday justice that we want to live in.

What is your art? As one of our members simply asked, what are you longing for? Let’s close (or begin) with this practice from Mending the Arc facilitator Beckie Masaki to see what sparks for you:

  • WHAT? What is happening? What did you notice, what facts or observations stand out?
  • Then, after all the salient observations have been collected, ask, SO WHAT? Why is that important? What patterns or conclusions are emerging? What reflections/actions/ sense-making can you make?
  • Then, after the sense making is over, ask, NOW WHAT? What actions make sense? What could be next steps/possibilities?

 

*Link to original blog post via Medium: https://medium.com/the-reverb/celebrating-everyday-creatives-embracing-the-power-of-amateurs-75a9f801b33a