A Brief (okay maybe not brief) Rant

I am SO tired of ridiculous people overlooking the arts, considering them unimportant, and deeming them useless in society.  People need to APPRECIATE the creativity, the beauty, the magic that comes from the arts.  Music, theatre, dance, visual arts, creative writing, etc.  These are ALL art forms and the artists and their creative efforts should not be shunned, overlooked, or looked down upon. 

I honestly don't think some people realize just how their lives would change if there was no art.  To begin with, buildings would all look the same because there would be no creative architects to come up with beautiful designs.  There would be NO form of entertainment...forget music, forget theatre and film and screen, forget paintings...none of this beauty would exist.  The only beauty around would be what God put on his beautiful Earth...and if we don't start taking care of it, then it won't last for long either, but that's another rant for another day. 

I posted this on facebook earlier today; some stupid person asked me what my major was and I told him music education, and more specifically, piano.  You know what he told me? That I had better have a good minor.  I told him that I was quite confident that this is what I am supposed to be doing and I wasn't worried one bit (though it was hard for me to control everything that I wanted to say to him). 
And I'm not worried...God gave us music and surely something used to glorify him can't go wrong.

God gives us the talents we possess and if we don't use them he can take them away.
I want to be able to share my passion and my gift with others so that they may share it with another generation, and another, and so on and so forth. 

People need to get out there and support the arts! There are SO many ways that you can help: 
-Support your local Arts Council
-Support local musicians, theatre groups, art galleries
-Talk to your school board...tell them that the arts programs need just as much support as any other activity
-Learn more about VH1 Save the Music; it's a great foundation to donate to, but just more national than local. 
-If your kid, friend, or whatever wants to become an artist of some kind, don't discourage them.  Give them all the support and encouragement that you can possibly give. 

Without support, the arts are extremely vunerable and threatned because many people just don't appreciate the beauty of it all.  With support, the arts will flourish, bloom and grow into new and different creative expressions.  Support the arts, support creativity, give the arts a chance to survive; otherwise the world would be an unhappy place.