Hey friends,

I’m on my way to Florida right now for a week of speaking and client meetings. While preparing for this trip, I spoke with the client who booked me to speak at a business breakfast, and he said, “We need you to tell a group of local entrepreneurs why art matters to them.”

Unsure of what to say, I accepted the challenge then thought, “What have I gotten myself into?”

After some time of thinking about it, I came to realization that creativity can do certain things in the world that nothing else can. I believe that. We need art now more than we ever have before.

And over the next couple of weeks, I want to share you why that is.

This week, I’m sharing an essay and podcast on the three unique gifts creativity gives us.

Click here to listen or read along.

The way I see it, there are three messages creativity can communicate, and these messages are what make us human.

Which is to say, without the arts—without the ability to creatively express who we are and what we care about—we lose a bit of our humanity.

Most of my life, I’ve made things. Before I even knew why or how, creativity was the tool that helped me understand myself and the world around me. It was the way I processed difficult experiences and how I learned to express who I was and what I believed.

Through this process, I began to see the gifts we receive from art. There are three of them, each distinct ways art helps us understand who we are and why we are here.

Art helps us experience the following messages:

“I see you.” Art is about empathy. We all need to feel seen and understand and help others feel the same. We must also appreciate when we create anything that not everyone will “get” what we’re trying to do. The point is to make something for someone, not everyone.
“I’m still here.” Art is about perseverance. The very fact that you make things means you made it. You survived another day, another season; you endured another hardship or trauma. And the ability to make something out all that debris is a sign to both yourself and the world that you’re still here and they are, too. We all need to be reminded to keep going when times are tough.
“I can’t believe it.” Art is about transcendence. When you stand before a great work of art, it reminds you that you are a part of a richer narrative, that there is something greater going on than your temporary trials. We make things to help others transcend their own realities and believe in a bigger story.

Also, I’m in Lakeland, Florida this week for a few speaking gigs. If you’re in the area, click the links for more details. I hope to see you!

Or if you’d like me to come speak in your area, shoot me a message and let’s see if we can work something out!

Best,

Jeff

P.S. Next week, I’ll be in Chicago speaking at this event, so if you’re in the area please come by!

P.P.S. What does art say to you? I’d love to hear! Shoot me a reply. Oh, and make sure to subscribe to the podcast for my weekly audio riffs on all this stuff.

Hope to see you soon!

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