Light. It races through the cosmos from billions of sources. Trillions. Transporting spirits and showering Earth with vision, knowledge, imagination, inspiration…and most of all, thought.

It soars through the barriers of disbelief and obstinacy, lighting the way and reaching for those who care…those who can lift off in thought—reaching for the spirits and spiritualism—the elements of art. All the arts.

I have been reaching for it and writing about it for over twenty years. Right now is not the easiest of times to see the light of the cosmos. We seem to be mired in the inane stuff of possessions: wealth and control. Especially control.

We have long been consumed with the frantic construction of “credentials” through academic branding, awards and trophies: the mindless verification of being smart and right without necessarily being either. What’s worse now is that the world is again obsessed with power and conquering: the submission of other people. Here, there…everywhere.

No. The true value is in the light that takes us beyond gritty reality. It makes vision possible. It allows the depth, harmony, elegance and the radiance of art. It can take us to understanding: clarity.

But despite clarity of understanding, or maybe because of it, we all experience trauma. It is usually an unexpected tornado of disappointment, personal injuries or devastation. It turns our mind upside down and inside out. A lot more may be coming.

The fires of trauma can only be dispelled by a clearer grasp of the immortal force of creativity. We can only get beyond the dread, fear and anger by reaching for the place beyond the literal.

We have to reach for the magic we can feel if not fully understand: We find it only in the arts that orbit the spiritual.

Painting 1: “Backyards in Golden Sunlight” - Charles Burchfield

Painting 2: “Duck and Cover” - Dana Ellyn - Dana Ellyn Website

Painting 3: “Stilt and the Stars” - James John Magner

James John Magner Website

PTSD and Art

Light