"I love art almost as much as I love books."
A quote from a book I recently read
I recently read a National Book Award Finalist book entitled, "I am not your perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sanchez.1 I read a book or two a week. In broad terms, I place reading and books in the Art Category. However, not all books qualify as Art. For me, Art moves one's soul and touches the heart. Often, art transcends words. Art includes paintings, sculptures, architecture, sketches, music, theater, operas, and more. So much more. For me, with art we are not alone.2 Art connects us.3
In Sanchez's book, her main protagonist is a 15 year old girl named Julia. Julia loves art. In the touching teenage voice of Julia, she describes her feelings about art:
"I love art almost as much as I love books. It's hard to explain the way I feel when I see a beautiful painting. It's a combination of scared, happy, excited, and sad all at once, like a soft light that glows in my chest and stomach for a few seconds. Sometimes it takes my breath away, which I didn't know was a real thing until I stood in front of this painting. I used to think it was just some saying in pop songs about stupid people in love. I had a similar feeling when I read an Emily Dickinson poem. I was too excited and threw my book across the room. It was so good that it made me angry. People would think I'm nuts if I try to explain it to them, so I don't."
I strongly encourage you to schedule time to visit a museum, go on an art stroll, or even attend a reading at a local bookstore or library. Art helps.
Below are a few articles about the benefits of Art, in particular visiting museums, to help improve mental health:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9687250/
https://www.museumtrustee.org/news/penn-researchers-find-mental-health-benefits-in-visiting-museums-including-reduced-anxiety
https://www.forbes.com/sites/traversmark/2022/04/09/3-scientific-reasons-why-visiting-an-art-museum-can-boost-your-happiness-today/
https://www.farnsworthmuseum.org/about/fam-blog/visiting-art-museums-can-positively-impact-your-mental-health/
https://therapytips.org/articles/the-surprising-link-between-art-museums-and-mental-health
I actually said that to my co-author when she saw a quote I had etched in glass. At the time, I thought that I had read it somewhere. Carol kept saying, “I don’t think so.” We tried diligently to find the source and finally concluded that I said it in one of my previous journal entries.
Very similar to the single word, Paperdolls