Art/Poetry is vital

Hideho, PS peeps! This is my first blog... ever! Thank you to Benjamin B., for gifting me with a lifetime membership that includes this attraction. First, I want to write to the group at large and say, keep writing, keep reading others poetry, keep up communications as much as your able. I don't think we do this or the contests for validation...we do this to edify fellow artists and connect with eachother. We enter contests and sponsor them to challenge eachother and ourselves into growth. Now, to the group at small? Heehee... the soupers who have read and commented on my writing and I on theirs for these past few months...I say, "thank you"... for giving me much needed sustenance. This will make more sense after I relate this quote I heard this morning. I hope it reaches you as it did me. " Do you think human creativity matters? Well, most people don't spend much time thinking about poetry.... until... their father dies, you go to a funeral, you lose a child, somebody breaks your heart; they don't love you anymore. Then, all of a sudden you're DESPERATE for making sense out of this life... and has anyone ever felt this BAD before!? Or, the inverse... something great! You meet someone and your heart EXPLODES! You love them so much, you can't even see straight... you know?... you're dizzy! Did anyone feel like this before? What is happening to me? And that is when art is not a luxury, it's actually sustenance. We NEED it! There's this thing that worries me sometimes whenever we talk about art... because it can feel... just nice or warm or pleasant. IT'S NOT... IT'S VITAL! It is the way we heal eachother. It's singing your song or telling your story (*or sharing your poetry)... and inviting you to say, "Hey, listen to me and I'll listen to you." We're starting a dialogue and we start to witness each other's common humanity. When we do that, this (* is when) healing happens." --Ethan Hawke, 2024 I heard this and the message he conveys touches my heart and makes so much sense to me! Art is vital to our humanity. Poetry is vital for humanity to make connections with eachother and to process a myriad of emotions and feelings. Poetry is therapy. And yes, it is how we heal ourselves as well as our fellowman who perhaps doesn't possess the words to express themselves. They read our expressions and say, hey, yea! That's it exactly! I AM NOT ALONE! Your Friend and Fellow Souper, Crystol Woods <3 * the authors words