Book Review of Amanda Palmer’s “The Art of Asking”
I used to think in black and white, grey was a color I rarely made contact with or understood. There was an answer to everything without much thinking, a promised forever upon death, basking in the glory of lions laying with lambs.
It may not have resonated with me but it was still security, A blanket mentality, keeping oneself cozy in certainty. While it could vary from sect and person to person, there was still always an answer, a life of little contemplation and mystery.
I was a baby existentialist and now an adult one. At 7, was asking questions like: “Why does homelessness exist?”, or “If everyone was willing to die for their spiritual beliefs across cultures and they all believe it to be the TRUTH then how can one be certain? How is there only one way to God?”
I am now 40 and my life has taken many wild turns as I reckoned with sexuality, identity, and basically, my place in the world and where I fit in. Whether the deep and unusual thoughts as a child or my current prolific art mixed media art practice, creativity tended to seep into my bomb and take space in my brain.
According to AI, existentialism is, “Existentialism is a philosophical movement that explores the meaning of human existence, and the role of individual choice in a world without a predetermined destiny” I no longer had the white in the black-and-white thinking, floating in a nebulous uncertainty too burnt out to pursue my reckoning. In very recent times, things have started to click. I’m finding my footing and have emotional growing pains. I may still think in extremes, but I have freedom of thought, and that is a beautiful thing to have.
It has recently dawned on me that THE ARTS ARE LIFE. Essentially, art in all its forms is what life is about.
A long-awaited kiss with a lover is a form of poetry. Deep camaraderie is a dance. Some scenes in our lives are clips of a great film. Realizing this, and when inspired, sometimes I truly cannot shut the ART IS LIFE out of my consciousness. Every fallen leaf could be a picture uploaded and juxtaposed with prose and filtered with fine art and wild colors. The conversation I just had at the bar with a stranger, one night only, a beautiful encounter, could be part of a snapshot memoir. I’ve been having trouble shutting off the ART in my brain, seeing possibilities at every turn, yet I’m thankful to have found my meaning, my lens when hope for humanity feels grim at times, we can always look back to the arts, we can always see the raw ways in which creativity and beauty can intersect and answer those questions I had at 7, those questions I still have. Not definitive, not a certainty, but a lifetime of exploration.
About the Author:
Lindy Giusta is a queer, neurodivergent Brooklyn based outsider artist. They have recently begun to hone in on their craft and love of writing but have spent the past 8 years more focused on visual arts. When not creating or writing, they can be found with their nose in a book or lit mag usually drinking copious amounts of coffee, or going on random NYC.
Leave a Reply