Oh crap, why do I play music again...

Its not easy being pretty...

I find myself wondering if the pursuit of art in a society where commercial success is the defining aspect of the value of creativity, is worth the headache and heartbreak. Inother words, if you create something, no matter the depth of the feeling, the emotion, the expression of thought, the innovation or the personal effort put into it, it is never recognized or valued in your community unless it sells.
Artists are no longer valued for their creative efforts, therefor art is no longer valued.
In fact schools are all focused on methods of testing to evaluate students aptitude and no longer educate. Kids today don't go to school, they go to test prep. How do you test for artistic ability, creativity, expression?
As long as the devaluation of expression continues and focus remains on test skills, we will continue to churn out students who lack basic skills of expression, and a sense of self worth.
Because, if your test scores say you have no value then what do you have? - Does anyone else see a problem with this?
A writer has no value if he doesn't sell books, a composer doesn't have value unless he sells records, a painter doesn't have value unless his work is hung on the walls of some overpriced gallery... does this mean that expression no longer has value in itself.
Censorship is on the rise and no one seems to be concerned, because no one appreciates the freedom of expression. Not the same way our founding fathers did, when ideas could change the very way we live. Today radical thought is thought of as wasteful. People who protest are thought of as hippies who need real jobs to go to. Artist are thought of as bums who need to get real jobs to pay their bills. And people who are diferent are often teased, or outcast by their peers.
Not that this is news, or that I am the first person to say it. In fact Marx refered to this as a symtom of capitalism called the consolidation of culture. Basically, mass produced crap fill the void where we used to fill ourselves with thought and expression.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a tree-hugging-liberal-commie- atheist-flagburnin-antipatriot-terrorist supporting-shoebombwearing-towelheadsympathist...
In fact quite the opposite, I love the the freedoms garanteed by our constitution and cherish them, which is why I am so upset by the fact that as a nation we forget what those freedoms are and why they are so important.
Art is a reflection of life, it is an outlet for the frustrated youth and a mirror for the old to reflect on. It is natural in our very spirit to create and to be inspired, and we should revel in it.
I didn't write this to preach to you what it means, but to remind myself why I do it. 

In the beginning...

Nothing earth shattering here, just my first posting. Never kept a blog before so not sure where to start - but I do welcome comments and input to fuel this a bit.

I will probably be using this to vent, pose questions of personal conflict and just call things as I see them. While I don't expect my commentary to become part of popular verse or considered an important relative editorial, I do hope SOMEONE notices and gives me a bit of grief.

I find the questions of religion fullfilling and the entropy that is the current American political machine infuriating. So please forgive me if I linger on these topics towards the point of obsession.

Word up to ya mom's!
Rev.Bob