Quick Note #2
We are in very discouraging times. Humans are at each other’s throats in many places. Why? I can’t find a good reason. Is there ever a compelling need to kill each other? We always think so, and have since the beginning of time.
My impulse now is to quit-- to give up trying to bring people together through the magic of art. Beauty must appear trivial to those who amass fortunes at the expense of others...those magnificent aristocrats who imagine themselves the masters of the universe and must crush others to prove it.
Yet, these very modest posts are read in 10 countries, including Israel and Iran…by people, just people—those who see beyond boundaries and above battlefields. They, we, have at least one thing in common: the love of beauty, imagination and vision.
We have completed one full year of “PTSD and Art.” Readership and membership has grown and I am pleased with that. But do we make a difference? Or is that just my PTSD kicking in?
This Substack platform allows us all to interact directly. And although it is “free” to me, and most of you who have been viewing the first 23 posts, it costs much for Substack to provide the services and data that we all receive. There are no ads popping up.
So, starting this next twelve months, I hope you will consider chipping in a few dollars a month ($5, or $4 if you pay an annual $50.) Substack gets a small cut.
They recommend that we provide some special incentive to those who become a paid subscriber. So, starting now, paid subscribers may suggest artists and themes and I will do my best to include them. You are all welcome to make comments, of course.
BUT>>> as I said before, your eyes are more important to me than a few dollars a month. The only way we spread this message throughout the world is to welcome everyone. So, when these posts come out, please share them. You can go back into past posts and share those as well.
This is going to be a year so critical that we may be fortunate to survive it. There will be limitless trauma. As a combat veteran, I know how terrible war is, how easily it can escalate. But we all can belong to a world of art. We can identify across boundaries...and soar above battlefields.