The state of the art
Joy Balmana, ARTS COLUMNIST
Involving yourself in art, music, and culture might make you interesting, but it doesn’t make you a better person.
So, what is the point of all my past ramblings that you’ve read throughout the year?
Attending anything arts, music, and culture related can improve your social life, can support artists and musicians, and can show investment in our economy. However, the true test is what you gain from those experiences.
My last two years of school, other than homework, have felt like a run-on of festivals, fundraisers, events, and mixers. There are only a few fun times that actually stuck with me.
These fun times don’t include concerts, despite watching incredible musicians work it on stage. They also don’t include art shows, although my friends were the highlights of the exhibitions. Me attending things lately has felt like an obligation. This might be because of my school’s push to involve students in the community.
The need to be seen as an active member in my community has overridden some of my basic needs. Although I’m drowning in schoolwork and losing sleep over my social anxiety, I try to have fun at events I can’t quite enjoy.
It might just be a case of the FOMO (fear of missing out) or the fact I need to practise what I preach despite how I feel at times. I’m just trying to keep my head above water and remind the relationships around me that my life at school will hit a yield sign and merge into a stable career soon.
So, at this point you’re probably wondering, ‘what’s the point and what makes you a better person?’
Like I said, it is what you gain from your experiences, even the ones that cause anxiety and sleep deprivation. The few fun times I have had in the past few months were the events that allowed me to interact with non-egotistical people and without the thoughts of deadlines, goals, or social-ladder climbing.
‘Being better’ is determined through learning, self-realization, and honest interactions. While partaking in local art, music, and culture won’t make you a better person, it can help bridge the social, intellectual, and creative gaps you might feel in your life.
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Joy Balmana is a Public Relations major in Creative Communications.
Her free time is spent wandering around Winnipeg’s downtown galleries, other cites across the world,
or her kitchen figuring out what to cook next.
See the world her way on Instagram at @byoj or
hear what all that muttering is on Twitter @_byoj.
