Identify a work of verbal art (poem, song, story) that you feel helps to capture and express your values, sense of purpose in life, or desired future direction. Share this item in your journal (you can summarize it if it is longer than a poem or song), and explain why you chose it. Then identify a work of visual art (painting, sculpture, photograph) that does the same thing. Place a copy of it in your journal, and explain why you chose it.
Tiny Glowing Screens Part 2 Spoken Word by George Watsky
Click here for video of Watsky performing this piece.
This piece by Watsky, has had a large impact on my life. The artist mirrors my own internal struggle with finding a purpose in this life. He speaks to going through the process of reflecting on how insignificant our lives can feel in such a large world. He recognizes that it impossible not to be caught up in some degree by the consumerism around us and that the “American Dream” is a lie. He sees that others appear to be sheep in this system but he himself is no different and in the end, he accepts this flawed society because being the lone wolf and fighting your whole life is crushing and the people around you are good people and worth embracing.
I feel this song speaks to my own struggle to find purpose. I think that this struggle is the ultimate experience that we are both gifted and burdened with. The human condition is something to embrace for in the end direction of life changes and purpose evolves but the journey is valuable. I also believe his lines surrounding the authenticity of his image are crucial to my development as a person. He feels that his music represents only the best side of himself and his search to be an ethical human is tainted by the perfectionist influences of society. I often feel flawed in my pursuit of being a good and real person when I submit to the feelings in my brain that mirror society.
I first fund this song at 16 and it helped kick start my path towards philosophically and critically approaching the world.
The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali
When I was in Grade 10, I had the opportunity to visit Salvador Dali’s Art museum in Spain. I have great respect for Dali’s surrealist style in a world that seems to encourage normalcy. This piece among others has encouraged me to develop my our sense of the world regardless of others opinions. This piece to me recognizes that constructs really have little importance and it is ultimately the experience that matters.