Contemplation

Dear readers ~
What does it mean to call oneself "artist"?

Princeton's wordnet defines the term as "a person whose creative work shows sensitivity and imagination".
wikipedia states: "The definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practising the arts and/or demonstrating an art. Debate, both historical and present day, suggests that defining the concept of an artist will continue to be difficult."

Hmm. That narrows it down!

Could it not also refer to how we process information, how we conduct ourselves in everyday life, how we apply ourselves each day towards a particular goal? Could being an "artist" describe how we behave?

Could it be that being an artist is as undefineable as the process of being human in this life? I submit that we are all artists in our own way. We have been endowed by the creator (whatever or whoever you deem that presence to be...) with cognitive ability. We can define, express, and impact others by word or deed, or simply by our creativity. It could be a beautifully crafted salt glazed vase, a haunting celtic melody delivered with an achingly fragile voice, or a positively three dimensional image captured upon a two dimensional surface that evokes the urge to engage via color, line, texture and ...something more.

Something more.

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then what is art? It seems art can be whatever each of us deems as beautiful.
The act of creating a piece of art can, in itself, be beautiful...can be interpreted as art.
We are coached to embrace the idea that our journey through life, through troubles, through challenges, is in itself the most important element. Therefore the creation and application of an artistic idea can itself be viewed in a similar manner.

"...The use of the concept of understanding in describing the appreciation of art marks out an interesting distinction between art and natural beauty. A person may understand or fail to understand T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets, Michelangelo's “David,” or Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, but he cannot understand or fail to understand the Highlands of Scotland..." from online Britannica Encyclopedia

Food for thought.
http://thesecret.tv/planet-earth/