Today's Holidays: Inspire Your Heart with Art Day, Brandy Alexander Day, Backward Day
Website of the Day: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/brandy-alexander
Fact of the Day: The fastest someone ever recited the alphabet backwards was 1.93 seconds!
Art is one of those words that just has such a plethora of definitions. It its simplest form, art is an expression of creativity, typically something regarded as beautiful, captivating, or intricate. However, because art is associated with beauty, it is therefore a different experience for everyone. While I may read a beautifully crafted sentence in Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own and call it art, others might take a picture of their salad for their instagram story, complete with beets, strawberries, cheese, walnuts, and avocado, and call their salad art. But why is art meaningful? Does art have to spark some emotion or convey some message to be considered valuable? And who decides its value? Today, on Inspire Your Heart with Art Day, think about what you consider to be art and perhaps the reason behind your enchantment.
There is something so inherently special about words with varying definitions, depending on the individual. These words, such as art, are moreover an experience that reveals an element of ourselves. I was walking on Princeton's campus one day. It was cloudy, and it looked as if it would rain any second if it hasn't already. I was on my way to my freshman seminar class in Blair Hall, and as I approached Blair Arch, I stopped for a moment. Blair Arch was just a short distance away, and I stared at its castle-like architecture from my position. I had seen this image hundreds of times; other students post pictures of Blair Arch on their Snapchat stories all the time, and because I grew up in New Jersey, I've walked past that very spot plenty of times since I was young. Yet somehow, I paused in my tracks, struck by the beauty of the iconic building. This was art.
I continued on my walk to class, but throughout the day I thought about why I was so suddenly enthralled by this part of campus. And what I came to discover was it was not the physical structure and architecture that I marveled at, though it is spectacular. I was just over halfway done with my first semester at Princeton at the time, and I had found my place. I enjoyed my classes, loved spending time with my friends, joined clubs and organizations, even went to the gym every now and then, and truly felt as if I belonged to a community. I realized that Blair Arch was art, to me, because of my attachment to Princeton itself and my appreciation for the school, people, and opportunities. Our reason for finding a piece of art beautiful or valuable tells us something deeper about ourselves. And anything that helps us to see a clearer picture of ourselves or the world is something worth exploring.
Today I got my nails painted blue. If you know me well, you're probably very surprised at this, because I'm a pink girl. If anything, maybe I'd venture into a purple nail color, but I predominately stick with pink and lots of glitter. But as I looked down at my blue nails, I thought to myself: this was art. How could I possibly think that my blue nails were art? Well, I'm on this "new" kick. If you read my blog post about my summer of trying new things, "Met Gala, Dab Captial Abracadabra", I wrote all about mixing up my style and listening to a new type of music. Trying something new provides us with this feeling of excitement and possibility, and lately I felt as if everything has been too routine. There's nothing wrong with routine, but sometimes you just need to change things up to keep life interesting.
Now, I'm not saying that I've changed my favorite color from pink to blue; I'm still definitely a pink girl. But I made a major change last week: I dyed my hair back brunette, my natural color. I have been getting blonde highlight since seventh grade, and yes they were the really thick, stripey kind back then, but still, that's when the blonde started. And I also took up playwriting. I thought it would be something new and enjoyable to try, given that I love creative writing. Oh, and now I'm wearing a side part instead of a middle part: not a huge change, but it's a noticeable difference. And so in honor of change and my "new" kick, I got my nails painted a sky blue color (with rainbow sparkles- I couldn't resist: you can't take the sparkle out of a girl!).
Art has both taught me and reminded me of aspects of myself as I thought about my answer to the question: Why is it art? I have so many beautiful pictures of places, food, nature, and designs in my camera roll, and each picture tells me a different story: one that adds complexity to my definition of art, uncovers more of my identity, influences my perspective on life, and, of course, is a really pretty story to look at. So, please enjoy some of my art highlights:
Now, I am going to inspire my heart with art by reading Jane Austen's Persuasion. And as an English major, avid writer, and reader, I think you can guess why I consider this piece of literature to be art. Happy Inspire Your Heart With Art Day! How did you celebrate? What does art mean to you? Comment below or send in a picture to nationalholidaymovement@gmail.com ! #Art #BeHappy #Celebrate #Beauty