It's been ages...

I missed you, Dear Readers...

So last night I had the privilege of giving a talk at Martin Saints Classical High School’s Evening of the Arts. The students’ performances were incredible! MS is a really lovely school community and I was so honored to be a part of the evening. Here’s the talk I gave:

The Working Catholic Artist: what I wish somebody had told me when I was a teenager

First, some definitions. While there are various types of art - fine art, practical art, decorative, performing, for the purposes of our talk, when I say ART or creative work, I mean a created thing, a poem, a dance, a sculpture. When I say, working artist, I mean one who creates art. If someone says he’s a poet, but never writes any poetry, then he’s not a working artist. 

I’d like to also stress that the less formal arts are as important as the formal ones. There are a multitude of ways to use our creativity in the service of the good, the true, and the beautiful.  Your school is named in honor of the Martin family. Louis was a watchmaker and Zelie was a lacemaker. Just as their Creative work helped to form them, so our own work helps to form us and we should honor it for its inherent value.

A key to understanding why art and the creation of art are so important is that God, the ultimate creator, calls each of us to be co-creators with Him. Having children is the most obvious way to participate in this co-creation, but so is poetry, song, dance, a welcoming home, a delicious meal. All of these things, done properly, are done with God.

The topic of art, and its role in our lives, is one that I believe is vitally important for the world, the church, and us as individuals. For a society to flourish, for the church and for each of us to flourish, we need art. It is not a negotiable, tacked on thing, squeezed in if time permits. It is rather a form of sustenance, as food is to the body, as sunlight and rain are to the natural world, as the sacraments, prayers, and saints are to the church, Art is essential to  human flourishing. Your school’s motto is: the glory of God is man fully alive. Creative work is one of the ways in which we are fully alive. A society, a church, or a person with bad art or no art is not a healthy one. 

As Deacon Roberts mentioned, I am a nurse. This past year we’ve been told over and over to “listen to the science.” Well, we have years of research proving that our health is affected not only by what we eat or how much we exercise. It is also affected by what we see and hear and feel, by what feeds our minds and by what moves our hearts.

Will you die without poetry? Will the church collapse without music? Will America cease to be without literature or theater? Many would shake their heads and scoff at this. But I disagree with them. Art, at least good art, brings truth, beauty, and goodness into our lives and into our world. Without those 3 things, we whither and, more urgently, we place our souls in peril. Good art is one of the gifts that God gives us to help us get to heaven.

We’ve all had the unfortunate experience of attending a mass with terrible music. Praising God in those circumstances is more difficult. The bad music distracts us, annoys us, drains us of the energy and focus we need to fully participate in the mass. On the other hand, when we hear a beautiful rendition of Ave Maria, our hearts are moved. We may enter church with obstacles - a headache, stress, a plain old bad mood - and yet, that hymn can elevate us, helping us to see our sorrows in a new light, and to join our troubles and our joys, our entire being with Our Lord. In those moments, we are transformed, raised from the ordinary to the extraordinary. We taste heaven.

We’ve all felt downtrodden after an argument with a friend or a family member, discouraged and anxious about a project and then, we curl up on the couch with our favorite novel. By entering into the enchantment of the story, we are changed. Our mood lifts, our anxiety dissipates, we feel hopeful. Our world enlarges, and we are formed anew.

By opening new worlds for us, by giving us an understanding of the lives and joys and sufferings of others - think of The Diary of Anne Frank - by expressing our deepest longings and teaching us what it means to be human - think of Dante’s Commedia - art changes us and helps us to be more fully human. The power of art is real and vital to living our lives in fullness. 

We, as Catholics, are heirs to the world’s greatest artistic patrimony. Others have studied and discussed the failings and fallings of Catholic art in today’s world, so I won’t spend too much time on this. But I will say that until very recently, the Church was the birthplace and bedrock of art in the West. At one time, the Church supported artists, helped to nurture their talents, and commissioned the greatest works of art from Catholic artists. She was the womb of beauty. For the last several decades, this has not been the case. Yes, with the secularization of society, Catholic artists and Catholic art have been shoved to the fringes. But this outsider status is not just because society doesn’t want Catholic art or ignores Catholic artists. We, as Catholics - both the Church and the laity - have not nurtured that art or those artists. This is a travesty.

The only way to amend this, and we must, is to recommit ourselves to Catholic art and artists, especially those who are actually living and breathing and creating right now. This means supporting them with our time and our money. Subscribing to literary journals like Dappled Things, supporting theater companies like The Merry Beggars, buying books directly from Catholic publishers like Wise Blood Books. It means teaching our children to play the organ and the violin and the piano.

And, most importantly, it means that those with the artistic talent must dedicate themselves through hard work and sacrifice to create that art. If the art isn’t there then patrons can’t support it. So to you, the artists in the room, I say you must accept this challenge. You’ve been given the talent and now you must use it. 

I would like to add that Catholic art does not have to be religious in nature. To paraphrase Dana Gioa, a Catholic work of art is one that is permeated by a Catholic worldview. Art created with an eye on eternity. 

Some of you will go on to have a career in the arts. Through your art, you will earn enough to support yourself. But, the truth is, most of you will not. The financial struggles of being an artist are real and I won’t dismiss or diminish them. There are ways, though, to manage the challenges and keep creativity in your life. So, here are some things I wish someone had told me when I was a teenager:

1. I’ll start with the bad news. You will fail. At some point and in some way, maybe many ways, you will fail. People will walk out of the concert hall when you are singing. They won’t buy your painting. You won’t get published. You’ll get laughed at, trip instead of leap,  you’ll forget your lines. You’ll be overburdened, stressed, discouraged, disheartened, embarrassed, sad. You’ll be lonely. You’ll want to give up. Your grandmother, your very own grandmother, will tell you that you are wasting your time.  None of that matters. You were created by God to be an artist and you will not be satisfied unless you are, at least trying, to create. And, more importantly, you will not be living as God intended you to live. This is the stone cold truth. So, go ahead and try to give up. But, know this, if you are really an artist, that’s a losing battle. Save yourself the trouble and just accept that hardship and discouragement and failure are all part of the process. Just as they are part of life. I can’t promise happy ending. Many great artists were ignored in their own lifetimes. But each of us is made for something specific. God put you here to do something that no one else can. The way to heaven is to try your very best to do that thing. It is the only way to true happiness and flourishing.

2. Now, the good news. You will fail. So don’t worry about it and move on. There is freedom in this. Or as Samuel Beckett said, fail. Fail again. Fail better.

3. Keep your overhead low. Spend less than you make. Save as much as you can. The degree of freedom you gain from this will more than make up for not having the latest iPhone or a fancy car. 

4. Accept that art requires hardwork and sacrifice. Learn to live with FOMO or purge yourself of it. There will be people in your life who do not understand what you’re doing or why. They’ll complain because you can’t go to dinner or away for the weekend, tease you for taking your art too seriously, mock you for trudging outside to paint in the early morning light. Ignore them. These people are spirit crushers and they have nothing to offer. 

5. That being said, seek wise and loving counsel. We all need good advice and help. There will be times when you need correction. Accept it from the right people.

6. If it all possible, find an artistic mentor. There are so many people who want to help artists. I have been amazed and so grateful to discover this. At crucial points, people have just offered to help me with my writing career. Deacon Chris asking me to come and give this talk is one example. When you receive an offer of help, say “yes.” When someone encourages or compliments you, say “thank you.”

7. Set goals. Develop a system to measure and track them. Reach for them. Don’t stop. When you fail, as you will, fail again, fail better.

8. Tailor your life around your creative work. Work the nightshift. Take a lower paying day job that gives you more time. Move closer to your artistic community. One key to this is knowing your limits. Most artists, even extroverted artists, need solitude. We need time to sit and ponder. We need silence. But, you will also have duties and responsibilities that have nothing to do with your creative work and they must be met. It’s up to you to figure out how to make it all work. 

9. Art matters. As I said earlier, it is vitally important work. And even if you don’t earn a living making art, please don’t think you are wasting your time. There is not always a correlation between how great an artist is and how much they are paid for their art. We live in a very materialistic world and are judged on our productivity, our income, our wealth. But the value of what is good, true, and beautiful cannot be measured. They transcend quantification. Do not, do not, allow the world’s shallow and fleeting standards to become your own. The things that truly matter are of infinite worth and are almost always dismissed and denigrated when weighed on the world’s scales.. 

10. Along these lines, do not compare yourself to others. You were put here by God to do His work. That is the only yardstick. When it comes to your creative work, always strive to be the best you can because craft does matter. There are objective standards in each particular discipline and you must learn them, but do not forget that you bring something unique and irreplaceable to the world and to creative work.

11. Be generous. Share your work. You have no idea what good it may do in the world, the hope, joy, and understanding it will bring to others.

12. It’s never too late - for all of you who wish you’d acted earlier, fear not, while you breathe there is time. Start now. 

Finally, I say again: each of us were put here by God to do something that no one else can. Doing that thing is the way to happiness and to heaven.