I like my George Foreman grill because shoving silverware in it won’t kill me.  This toaster drawing is pretty terrible.

“Art is not a thing; it is a way.” –Elbert Hubbard

Usually when I talk to people about my pursuit of a career in music, I stress that I’ve never really felt as though I was pursuing a dream so much as fulfilling a basic need. Music is something that’s always been there and, much like eating and sleeping, will always be around just begging for my attention every day. I hesitate to use terms as dramatic as “life force” when describing it, but despite the lameness, it is pretty accurate when describing creative and artistic pursuits in my life. I thrive on creating and otherwise being involved in artistic endeavors, whether it be music, drawing (I spent the better part of my youth obsessively drawing cartoons), or writing. Even humor is a creative aspect of my personality that is stubbornly embedded into my being. Art isn’t something that I do, it’s something that I am–it happens naturally and necessarily.

Most artistic types will stress that they simply have a need to express themselves. Actually, just about everybody seems to need a venue for self-expression, artistic or otherwise. Although I essentially agreed with the self-expression goal behind art, for quite a long time I wondered why something like that would be so important. I don’t feel like I have a whole lot of important stuff to say, so why feel the need to express myself?

But I’ve learned that self-expression isn’t so much about yourself as it is about others. It’s a means of connecting and sharing with people. So many of the most important moments of our lives are those that we share with someone–could be a feeling, a memory, a learning experience, etc. It’s true, particularly for more introverted people such as myself, that much personal development occurs from self-discovery, shaping our values, viewpoints and perspectives on our own. But self expression is a means for us to share what’s been internalized. When we have ideas, learn and experience, the energy we feel from that helps us grow as people but is near impossible to keep to ourselves. We end up needing to pass on what we’ve learned, what we’ve felt, what we’ve internalized and made a part of ourselves through some medium.

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As it turns out, actual baby seal clubbing involves far less techno music than I initially imagined.