Take Notice and Pay Tribute

Two Thousand Nine Hundred Seventy-Seven.  That's the number of American lives that were lost during the September 11, 2001 attacks (I refuse to include the 19 hijackers).  Every year around this time we see posts, banners, articles, you name it reminding us to 'Never Forget'.  To never forget what happened on that tragically fateful day.  But why do we only see these things and pay tribute one day a year.  How come it seems as though we are proud to be Americans only a couple of times a year - July 4, September 11, December 7 and every 4 (2) years during the Olympics. Why aren't we proclaiming our American pride 365 days a year?  Truthfully, I don't have an answer for that question. All I know is sometimes it takes something big (good or bad) to make us realize what blessings surround us.  So why wait for something big.  Lets be loud and proud to be Americans everyday because we have men and women fighting for what our founding fathers sacrificed everything for - Freedom.

For many of us fellow Americans we remember September 11 on occasion; usually when there are conversations involving terrorists.  It's not an event that plagues us daily or sometimes even months pass before there is a reminder of the events that occurred that day.  There may have been 2,977 lives lost but there are thousands more who are influenced by those events on a daily basis. The families that had to find the strength to persevere and redefine their lives. The Mothers and Fathers who were tragically turned into single parents in an instant.  The children who were stripped of their childhood and forced to grow up in the course of a couple hours. The turmoil that will forever haunt the memories of those directly affected on a daily basis. I know that EVERY American was affected that day, but those are the ones who are affected everyday.

Don't get me wrong the lives that were lost should always be remembered and the men and women who risked their lives in order to save the people trapped should forever be honored.  However, the families of the people who never came home that day those are the people we should pay tribute to.  Those families are the ones who truly had to pick up the pieces of their lives and reconstruct themselves.

So today I pay homage to the American public that will Never Forget.  I remember the lives that were lost.  I honor the heroes especially our military for serving and protecting our Nation voluntarily. But most of all I pay tribute to the families who, 12 years later, have rediscovered themselves, created a new life and who really don't EVER forget.

Connections in the Art

They say the Arts are a dying craft. They cut them in schools and deprive the next generation of creative inspiration, some students find their art or music classes their only form of release for the day.  The only way they can express themselves in a non-imposing environment.  I know my brother and myself were that way. But in reality they are depriving the students of connections. Connections that can only be formed in an artistic way. 

 If you attend an art festival is it filled to the brim with people connecting on all sorts of levels.  Think about it every piece of art sold is really a connection.  It is a connection between the artist and the buyer. Those two people saw something in the piece and because of that they have formed a bond.  For that brief moment, they were connected by art. The buyer is essentially saying to the artist, "Hey, this is speaking to me. I really understand what you were thinking while creating this piece." 

This connection does not only apply to paintings and drawings; it applies to every type of art.  A piece of handmade jewelry that catches your eye from across the room (happens to me a lot), a sculpture that you can easily picture on your end table, a song on the radio that immediately produces an emotional reaction of some sort, even a poem that brings back your past. Every type of art derives a connection for that moment, no matter how long or brief, you and the artist are connected.  If you are buying the piece from the creator or in a coffee shop listening to the artist live you may have a moment with that person.  In that moment you will lock eyes with the piece (or maybe actually lock eyes with the artist) and you both just get it.  It will be brief, just a moment of - I get you, I understand this totally. I hear people say all the time ' I feel as though this was created specifically for me'  well you know, it's quite possible that it was. Maybe every piece of art is created for a specific person as though fate brings us to our Art.  The artist isn't sure who the piece is being made for but it is always created for someone. Someone who is/ has experienced the emotion that is behind the work and will truly appreciate the Art for what is it.