The gift of life is a miracle, and the variety of pleasures to be had in experiencing it can only be described as endless. From the delicate arrangement of seeds on a dandelion clock to the quirky sharpness of the movements of a bird -- to the grace and flourish of a professional chef's hands, every one of our fellow adventurerers in this world finds his or her or its own ways to delight our impressions. Other ways still are found by inanimate things -- rocks, landscapes, streams. Perhaps the only thing more miraculous is that we humans are sometimes able to forget all of this. There are times when nothing in the world has the capacity to excite us, and all that is so colorful seems only grey and pale.
But in the end it is surely this very capacity that allows us to experience the heights of ecstasy -- that makes us more than mere reactive objects and allows us to see meaning in the world. Indeed, in every form of art man has expressed these two sides. There are tragedies and comedies, songs of triumph and despair, painted scenes of gloom and beauty.
Creative expression is the right and privilege, the duty and joy, the glory and necessity of every human being. No person can be born into and live in this world without having perspectives and insights to share that enrich the lives of every other. And in fact we are all artists, whether we realize it or not -- every sentence we speak, every caress we provide is a creative expression, an act by which we touch another soul.
What we call art is different from these only in degree, not in kind -- it is a more carefully constructed expression to carry some message across with greater clarity, more power, and more beauty. The joy of creation is coming closer to this beauty, but also the idea of touching other people and bringing them closer as well.
Everyone should create, should know that they create -- and take joy in the Creation.
Poetry was a word used originally by the Greeks for any form of creative exercise.
Music is the creation of the Muses, the archetypal inspirers of creativity.
Image has been a fertile ground for explorations of the imagination.
And lastly, let us not forget simple prose, which wielded effectively can do all of what the others can put together.