My mind goes in circles, around and around, making me dizzy. I see so much injustice, and I don’t know what I can do about it. I am overwhelmed with grief for our world. Is love so difficult that we cannot find a place for it in every situation? Without any outlet, my melancholy bottles up inside of me. How can I renew my hope for our peace and happiness?

I hear a soft flute. Soon, the music becomes louder. I am in the presence of a melody that takes me far away and helps my mind to rest. All is forgotten for a moment. I am immersed in the sounds of dreams, wishes, and hopes. And my mind drifts. I see myself in a green meadow with a turquoise sea at the bottom of a cliff. There is a group of people following me. A story arises and I am intrigued. And it comes to me that all of my emotions have been awakened. The music mimics natural tones of life that mean something to me. Music shows me how emotions sound. Art mimics the color of things on Earth, and shows me how emotions look. And the story is literature, and shows me the way emotions feel translated into human words. And I understand the significance of the arts. While an artist may be starving, and a play doesn’t bring in any money, and composers die penniless, they show us the face of our emotions, and bring us into a world where peace and love prevail. The arts are a bridge to my subconscious, the wisdom of my soul, and help us to live not just by food and shelter, but by being fulfilled in an emotional sense.

There are two me’s. One is my physical me, my conscious state of being. It takes care of my physical needs. It helps me survive physically in this harsh world. The other me is the emotional me, my subconscious. My subconscious is very wise. It knows that I am everything I need to be. It knows I am worthy. But my physical will is the stronger of the two, and if it doesn’t agree with my subconscious, it can lock it away and ignore it. How many of us have done that?

I want to close my eyes and just listen to the melody. The music makes me pause. When I was young, my subconscious told me that I was perfect just the way I was. But that isn’t what the world told me. One of them was lying. I had to have the world to live while I didn’t have to have high self esteem. So my willful mind chose to lock my subconscious away and never listen to its lies again. But the music, the music allows my subconscious to escape from the darkness where I hid it inside of me. But what I do not realize is that the only place inside of me that there was room to hide my subconscious was in my heart. She has not been living a life in darkness, but rather she has been living in the light of my heart all my life, and it is me in my conscious state of mind that has been living in darkness, separated from the love of my own soul. So if there is no justice in this world, it is my own fault, because the world said I wasn’t worthy, and apparently I agreed. And so the case rests without opposition.

I am angry at the world for what it does to those who live here. Yes, I could do something. But I have to take care of myself before I can take care of the world. And without an outlet for my anger, it builds, and makes me tired. But I have found an outlet. Art, literature, and music. I used to think they were trivial entertainment, something a hardworking person mustn’t indulge in too often. But I was so wrong. These arts release us from the arms of anger. They are an outlet for all the wrong and the bad in the world. We must use them. We desperately need them. They are as necessary to human survival has food and water, in the long run. Our minds have developed so far, we are no longer satisfied with the basics of life. Love, acceptance, and relationships form our emotional side. And for those who have not bridged the gap between mere existence and fully living can use the fine arts to mend a broken bridge between the conscious and the subconscious. Music sets my stage for self expression. It clears away all other thoughts, and allows me access to the me deep inside. And it comes out in story. And it comes out in paint. And these things put me with people. And people are the real gift.

My subconscious is the wise part of me. She says, “If you want to find me, listen to the music. Yes, the music. But not just the music. I am in melody, but I am also in color, and I am also in story. Music, art, and literature. Indulge in any of these, and you will find me. These things get past your exterior and into your heart.”

And so, I listen, I paint, and I give you a story. And I am free.

Thank you for listening and good night.