Art as a Spiritual Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Art as a Spiritual Practice - Essay Example When practiced properly and with full attention it can prove to be a staircase to where one wishes to go. It can show you the way towards consciousness if the person is seriously interested. And here art refers to any kind of a creative act; whether it be drawing, painting, pottery, sculpture, or even performing arts such as dancing, singing or acting. Each of these activities requires proper concentration on the part of the performer and cannot be taken as a joke if one really wishes to attain proficiency and work out professionally. And when one is serious regarding art he may be able to look at it as a spiritual discipline. Ann Biddle was a dancer who expresses her spirituality through such means. She had had a tough early life and she was always interested in God and spiritual disciplines, such that she looked for them in her talents. She danced, acted and chanted. And in each of these activities, she was able to find the spirituality she had been in search of. In fact, she even got some ideas for her work when engrossed in spiritual practices. Another example is that of Willi Singleton who understood pottery as a form of spiritual practice. He did not look at pottery as something through which he supplied people with pots and plates; in fact, he gave his work a totally new meaning and found spirituality in it. When he is working he experiences a meditative transformation and thus this practice becomes a meditation for him. Lydia Garcia is yet another lady who found spirituality in art, wood carving in her case. Her marriages did not bring her much happiness and she let go after three marriages and looked for spirituality. She admits that whenever depression visited her and she felt low it was a spirituality that helped her regain comfort and confidence.