A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to see my friend completely absorbed in his music. His fingers glided along the keyboard with a mind of their own. I couldn't believe how effortless the beauty of his music seemed but more importantly, the purity and depth of emotion that not only became his music but overtook him as he played. Beauty can be found at the most unexpected times and places, take in these moments. While often rare, the opportunity of seeing into a persons most genuine form can teach us the most. The problem however, is becoming close enough and caring enough to notice; truly knowing someone inside and out. So why are we so protective of something that is natural?
I know I’m not the only person to notice that no one ever follows that saying “just be yourself.” People are always putting on an act, hiding their true emotions, and just plain keeping to themselves, making it increasingly difficult to really get to know someone. Everyone has emotions and through them we should be able to connect and look to each other for hope and inspiration. What good does it do to keep everything bottled up inside? Emotions are something everyone has to handle and it is how people handle them that make the person they are. I think that in order to really understand a person and to be able to see life through their eyes, you have to be able to share your emotions with them and connect on a deeper level. Most people involved in the arts including myself, take a long time to open up in that way to someone. In many cases, we use another medium or form of art to help guide us, allowing us to indirectly open ourselves up to a broader audience. Why are people so comfortable exposing some of their deepest thoughts and emotions through art but not aloud?
In my experience, laying the framework for a true sense of trust and friendship with someone can take a long time in itself and it is during this process, that the relationship can become subject to failure. Everything worth while in life takes time; a true bond with someone is one of those things. True friendships must stand the test of time if they are truly going to work out. People are always coming in and out of our lives, but not all are here to stay. I think the reason so few people actually see the genuine form of a friend is simply because it is human nature to question the motives of other people. We as humanity, over think, reviewing different situations over and over in our heads so much so we create a growing sense of paranoia within us. What are they going to think of me? I will sound dumb if I say that. Look at the glance she just gave me; she doesn’t like me and so on. At the same time, we want to be aware of what we are telling people and what is better to be left unsaid. I think it varies from person to person in regards to the logistics, but I know for me, I only have one true best friend that I know will always be behind me one hundred percent. This bond, while it may have developed faster than I could have ever imagined, it is one that I believe will last forever. It is here that art opens the doors to human connection for it was through music that my best friend and I grew closer. Having the piano as a buffer, it allowed him to open up, turning pure emotion of all kinds into something beautiful, something anyone can connect to. Watching his fingers glide across the keys he looked to me and said, “it’s what I was born to do” and it was in that moment, I knew that was his true self speaking to me. Music acted as a stepping stone to the growth of our friendship, allowing us to use art as an expression of emotion but also to become comfortable with each other in all aspects.
I am not a person who generally opens up to anyone, even my family. The idea of having a best friend is something I never really considered, because I had never allowed myself to become close to anyone. I am someone who tends to keep people at a distance, and have always been very particular in choosing who I allow myself to befriend. However they all have one specific trait, everyone whom I have allowed myself to become closer to, inspire me in some form or another. Being a very closed person, I always expressed my emotions through my art and writing. There are so many ways to express emotions through those mediums that it in a sense became my life. I never wanted to directly share my thoughts and emotions with people so I showed them visually. I think that is why humanity created art, music, and literature; to tell the stories nobody had the courage to tell themselves. I believe that it is through these mediums that we are able to learn not only more about the artist, but about humanity and the reasons behind our actions. The media and arts are one of the few things that no matter what, are always guaranteed to bring people together in some form. After all, it is something that brought me closer to my best friend.
Art is simply emotion in another language, left to be only truly understood by the native creating speaker, but to be interpreted by thousands. Art is the worlds universal emotion, language, and time. It allows us to see the world in a new light and through a new persons perspective. It is the catalyst of creation and inspiration. Allowing us in many cases to avoid what humans fear most, direct criticism. We are comfortable with the idea of someone critiquing our work, but not straight to our face through spoken word. A work of any art form takes time. Friendships and relationships take time. They are so similar and yet we are still so much more cowardly and afraid of direct interaction. I think the problem arises in the fact that a work of art can’t just look at you and say you’re stupid, it doesn’t have the ability to come back and hurt you later on the way an individual person might. I think that the strongest and most genuine bonds are the ones formed through equal contribution of both mediums.
The best friendships are built upon a strong trust and a trust in each others opinions. In building this kind of trust, expressing yourself whether it be through music, art, or literature it is a crucial step and is something that I think most people overlook when getting to know someone. The easiest example is music, think of how much you can learn about a person just by simply looking through their playlist. Now, you can get a general sense of the individuals personality; However, it is when you actually discuss and argue about individual songs, that you are able to get a sense of the personal attachment between the individual and the music. Whether it be similar or different, you are learning things about each other when you explore interests, it allows the beginnings of the foundation of friendship to be laid. I think by starting off with that, people will have an easier time getting to know someone and allowing themselves to open up and become closer to someone.
You can learn a lot from one individual if you care enough to take the time you spend together, and embrace the simple moments of life. It is all about learning to become not only comfortable with yourself and your own beliefs and emotions, but about learning to accept another for everything that they are and can become. You never know just what one person can make you realize, teach you, and inspire you to become unless you are willing to take the jump with them. A person is more than just what they appear to be, too many people forget that. Inspiration can come at the most unexpected times and places but will merely pass by those not looking out for it. Just as Barbra Streisand said, “A human being is only interesting if he’s in contact with himself. I learned you have to trust yourself, be what you are, and do what you ought to do the way you should do it. You have got to discover you, what you do, and trust it.” Be who you are inside and out and people will accept you for that and you never know just who you might inspire. After all, where would we be without true inspiration inside and out.
