Art as a Kind of Church

A dependable way to feel revitalized

If you are a person of faith, when you feel lost or need guidance, you turn to the church (physically or spiritually). You pray, seek community, and read about stories that relate to your strife. But when you are not that type of person, what do you turn to in a time of need? For me, that place has always been art.

From an early age, if I felt lost, sad, or depressed, I consumed and created. I read, watched, and made as much as I could—until I started to feel whole again.

I find that art and creativity are generally a result of pain. I have written about this in the past, so feel free to check that letter out. Since art and creativity come from pain, then when I am in need, the obvious place to turn is art.

For me, this doesn't always mean fine arts; this means any form of it. Generally, I seek writing. This can be in the form of long-form fiction or short-form prose. I might seek visual art—on the internet, in a gallery, or a museum. Getting out of my mind and into others' is what I am looking for.

But sometimes, I need art as an outlet. Just like church, you can go and confess your sins, recite your Hail Marys. The act of creation elicits the same result for me. Whether that is writing, photographing, drawing, designing, or editing film—it's the act of making that helps.

I am not writing this letter because I'm going through anything specific. As a human, I go through just as many ups and downs as you. I write this so you can learn about another tool at your disposal to push through and grow from your pain. I added this idea to my backlog while reading: Is Culture Dying, from The New Yorker. While reading this article, I realized that I have used art as a form of church my whole life. If you are like me, having something consistent and dependable is nice to have. Also, read that article—it's insightful.

Art is subjective. What I see as art is entirely different from what you see. The act of creation and consumption might feed you differently than it does for me. A doodle in a notebook or restarting Zelda: Breath of the Wild might be what you need. That game is 100% art. Regardless of your definition or your outlet, knowing that art is even an option is a good place to start revitalizing yourself.