Photography -- A Therapeutic Lifesaver For Some

[Phillydog1958]

​Young photographer:

 

[BackdoorArts]

Creating art of any kind can be one of the greatest healers there is. When you read the biographies of the great painters, poets and songwriters you often learn of tortured pasts and personal struggles. Being able to channel that pain can, indeed, be life saving - and not just for the artist but for those who experience the art. How many songwriters have written from a dark place only to be told years later that a song changed a life forever?

It makes me wonder whether the trend in education in the US to de-emphasize and even eliminate the arts over the last several decades, and the subsequent rise in suicide rates among teens has any correlation? I would contend that it does.

Good stuff.

 

[Phillydog1958]

Creating art of any kind can be one of the greatest healers there is. When you read the biographies of the great painters, poets and songwriters you often learn of tortured pasts and personal struggles. Being able to channel that pain can, indeed, be life saving - and not just for the artist but for those who experience the art. How many songwriters have written from a dark place only to be told years later that a song changed a life forever?

It makes me wonder whether the trend in education in the US to de-emphasize and even eliminate the arts over the last several decades, and the subsequent rise in suicide rates among teens has any correlation? I would contend that it does.

Good stuff.

Well put, BackdoorHippie. We are already paying a price, of sorts. I've noticed that there are not as many young people who are playing musical instruments, due to cuts in public schools. Hence, you don't see as many bands. Gone are the days of the great rock bands, like there were in the 60's, 70's and even the 80's. Kids only want to sing, nowadays. Perhaps there is a correlation between a decline in arts in schools and in teen suicides.