Loss

colorlogan1 (by kimprobable)

Yesterday, as I was reading the second chapter of Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar", I was struck by a thought as she was describing her character's love of taking hot baths. She gave cursory mention to styles of tubs, specifically mentioning griffon-footed tubs.

The thought came about, possibly, because I'd seen this photograph recently as well. In my comments on the picture at Flickr, I mentioned that seeing the photo made me imagine the handiwork of the people laying the bricks; looking at the photograph, I can almost feel the personal contribution of those who built the structure — brick by brick — whereas today's buildings don't create such a feeling in me.

Getting to the actual thought I got while reading, though...

I wondered how much creativity has been lost since we became this overly consumerist society. Everything now is so mass-produced with the idea of (supposedly) keeping the costs down, that there is hardly any true craftsmanship or artisanship (a word?) required.

Not that that – in and of itself – is such a bad thing (although I can't really see all that much good that's come out of it), but I mourn the fact that we have sacrificed so much of our creative energies for the sake of profits and so-called efficiency. I have imagined all the men and women who have come and gone since we have decided that profits are more important to us than is value. What might they have contributed had their creative skills been desired, encouraged and appreciated?

Is there really any wonder that everyday Americans don't seem to truly appreciate art or the artists who create it? Is it any wonder that art programs are the first things to be cut from state and federal budgets?

People don't appreciate art or creativity because they have been trained not to. They have been trained to produce things instead of creating them. Our appreciation for others' creativity is little to none because our creativity hasn't been nurtured in this society.

In the United States, it seems, that which makes us human — our minds, our intellects, our creative instincts — have been stifled and stepped on. Truly the best part of us — as a people, as a society — has been minimized; reduced to a mere memory recorded by a photograph. What we treasure — if today's spate of "reality" television shows is any indication — is backstabbing and manipulation; our worst traits are rewarded. Our truly creative, cooperative abilities are discouraged.

"Those were the days," we might say. Another generation away, I wonder what will be said when there is very little of value standing.