We attribute many things to Helen Keller about overcoming challenges. She was truly a trailblazer. Many would say that she wasn’t disabled, but over-abled. She had skills and insights that many who are healthy will never achieve. How does someone who is blind and deaf experience beauty? Keller stated, “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched-they must be felt with the heart”.
Keller was unleashed the understanding of how one maximizes the experience of creativity. It’s through the heart that any creative endeavor blooms. It’s through the heart that others experience an energy that emanates from our soul and is contagious. It’s through the heart that we can go delve deeper in our creative endeavors.
Our live experiences are imprinted in our heart and soul. We’re able to reflect back on our experiences on the kinesthetic level. We embody our experience and translate it to the world through our creative expression. Art is one way that we share our story. It’s a powerful expression of emotion and experience. How do others know our visual story?
When we stand before a work of art we have a reaction, good, bad, of indifferent. That experience is personal. We run the visual impression through our own filters and run it through our own experiences looking for a match. There are times when we are able to relate to a work of art because we’ve experienced the same or similar experience. There are other times when the expression of healing can be a told in a universal language that we understand.
Relying on our heart allows us to refer back to the art. Kim Rosen, a noted performance poet (author of “Saved by a Poem), speaks about memorizing poetry. She shares that memorizing poetry should not be the goal. The goal should be to learn the poem by heart. When learning the poem, the places we get stuck have a meaning that we need to take to heart. Those are the places where we need to focus our attention and energies. These are the places that will unlock the mysteries of the soul.
How do you interpret Helen Keller’s quote? How do you experience beauty/art on the heart level? I’d love to hear your personal experience. Feel free to share your experience in the comment section below. For more information you can email me at greg@survivingstrong.com.
Time to Live Creatively 