What makes art, art?

I have seen paintings that took time and effort, that are works of beauty. These painting were valued in the renaissance and early American time periods. Where art was the photography of the day. 

With the invention of the camera, the need for art for viewing people has become significantly less important. We now use art in an expressive and abstract form that can express true creativity.

But is it really creative?

I have seen paintings that are nothing more than a single black line on a canvas, be sold for millions of dollars. While paintings on the street (though illegal in vandalizing) have been often more beautiful and time consuming. 

I agree with Tony Stark in regards to art. In Iron Man 2, he gets a poster with Iron man on it in red, white, and blue. A pop art poster of  himself. He walks over to the painting that according to Pepper Pots is worth a lot of money and is very valuable. The painting is nothing more than a single black bar on white paper. He takes down the painting and replaces it with his poster.

( I tried inserting a picture I had made of a black bar on a white stretch of canvas here. The computer said that the file had to be a video, or image. The computer didn't even recognize the "painting" as art!) 

You are unique. 

Just like everybody else. 

It's very true. But we all go through our own issues in life. 

Some of us charge into the fight with a battle cry. 

Others run away from the fight with a battle scream. 

Others still throw their weapons on the ground and run into the enemy yelling, "YOLO, swag!" (these people are usually destroyed very quickly).

Problems make us human. 

They teach us how to cope with issues that we may have in the future. An 8 year old boy doesn't have to deal with the problem of traveling to visit relatives, and vacations or balancing a job or a calling in the community, just like how a middle aged man doesn't really stress out about the fact that his English assignment is due the next day (I don't know, you MAY have been held back that long in school,in which case you have other problems).

Environment makes us different. Not just the place we live but who we surround our selves with and who we look up to. A girl who has grown up, and has surround herself with people like her, who have looked up to people like Miley Cyrus, and Lady Gaga are not going to end up in a very good position later on in life, and may have a twisted view on priorities. Which brings me to my last point.

Priorities make us different. 

If we measure our worth, what would we do it by? Money, Power, Glory, Knowledge, or Skill? 

We will get whatever we put time into. If we love Physics then we could be on a team in the future sending men to space (providing NASA gets back into the game). 

If one put time into Money, not just the possession of it, but a means to gain it, then one could become very rich. 

If one put time in memorizing information about sports stats then they could become a sports caster, or the head of a sports fan club!

Who are you? What qualities do you have? How can you contribute to the world? What are your priorities? 

These are questions that determine who we are, who we will become, and how we are different.

Love! It's what makes us human. This great quality of civilization is what enables us to create and to care for others. It is not to be confused with lust, crushes, or "puppy love". These are the shadows of what love is and can be. Not love. 

Puppy love and crushes are just being attracted to someone. It can usually be attributed to their outward appearance. A mild and well intended emotion that most teenagers and children share for others. 

Lust is the opposite of love. It is a mindless monster romping through the minds of individuals. Tearing up all images of what is good and how people should be in the minds of the moral, and leaving a smoldering waste product behind of how people should be in the minds of the world: warped, disfigured, stupid, controllable.

Lust is taking and not giving. It is the mauler of marriages, the destroyer of the decent, and the corrupter of love. It's bind is temporal, and it's damage is great

Love is not just wanting to be with them. It's wanting them to be happy. It's not giving them whatever they want, it's giving them what they need (which are two very different things.) 

Love is giving, not taking. It's what makes someone want to take a bullet for another. It's what makes a hungry mother give her child her food. It's what keeps a father who works tirelessly at work to provide for his family. The power that creates honor, order, and law. It is what binds forever. 

Do we have any control? Are we in charge of our own fate and destiny? Do we have any say in what may or may not happen to us? Are we Truly unique? Or are we just objects? Objects falling from above and
approaching an unpleasant and jolting End when they hit the surface of the earth. Objects that are to be twisted and manipulated the whole way down To the ground by larger powers. Government officials?            Business operations? Crime leaders? of even some extReterrestrial power that we can not yet comprehend?   Is that all we are? Just some objects to be twisted and arranged  by more powerful people? For us to Serve as pawns for those in power?

"No matter what we dream, we still are made of greed. This is my kingdom come! this is my kingdom come!"-Demons, Imagine Dragons

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." -Mahatma Gandhi

The question that has bothered many a philosopher, that has been discussed since the beginning of mankind. That is fought over by biologists, humanists, politicians, psychologists, religions, kingdoms, and all peoples around the world.

Are humans inherently good, or evil?

Much evidence points to the fact that we are all inherently good. there are stories all the time of people going beyond the call of duty to serve for their people, nation, and community. Many individuals die for their positive morally correct beliefs. They include all they. Support those who cannot support themselves and comfort those who require comforting. the fact that their are people out there shows that mankind is not inherently evil.

But does it....

Many writers will talk and write about how everyone in the world is the same and we all want peace. We hear the stories of the individuals with honor and healthy morals more because they are a dying breed in this society that we live in. Even more people follow their selfish desires and ambitions regardless of how if affects the people around them, and even people that love them. Anything from the "uncontrollable" desires of an addict, to the brutality of a totalitarian dictator. 

I personally believe neither.

Everyone is different. It is what makes humans amazing and unique. Our chemistry and brains are never the same. We all think differently and process and interpret information differently than other individuals. The environment, however, is the most important variable in bringing individuals to be good. The way that the child is taught how to act, not by words alone, but by example, is the best way to teach. 

If we wish to create a new generation of individuals. WE MUST LEAD BY EXAMPLE!!!! 

The world is a marvelous place. Filled with life, creativity, ingenuity, care, and....

COLOR.

Color! The way in which light hits and object and rebounds. Color which distinguishes physical objects from mere shapes. It tells about a horse from a zebra, the sun from the moon, pure rivers from  filthy waters.

Colors not only distinguish, they represent emotions in individuals.

Red, the color of work labor and courage
Purple, royalty, nobility, caring and leadership
Gold, wealth, power, glory, honor
Blue, calm, peaceful, a symbol of mysteriousness and the ocean and the sea.

What must be known though, is that color adds texture to the world.

Anyone who has seen commercials knows that when a place, person, or thing is portrayed as undesirable or bad had their pigment and color taken away. We subconsciously view things without color as uncaring, cruel and unwanted. The things that we desire and want are filled with variety and color. We don't want anything generic, everything must be unique. Which is why there is color in the world.

                                                         We are a society of idiots.

      Sorry to put it bluntly. But it takes a special kind of stupid to know every celebrity affair in Hollywood but to not know what World War Hitler fought in (both, but was the leader in the second). We glorify the inglorious. We applaud that which is most appalling.

We fail to recognize the really important things around us.

     We must learn to care for those that need love. Not because it would increase our own ego and make us look like sympathetic people. We must care for all individuals. With all problems. We must be merciful but just. We must punish, but make a path for redemption. Because we are all going through trials.

     We must prioritize what we learn. We all have a certain amount of knowledge that our brains can hold. It becomes a matter of storing important information on it, rather than useless trivia. No ones going care if you know all of the celebrities who used to be from other countries, or how many touch downs a team has made for a season. It is a healthy and important thing to have a hobby. It is also important to know information that will be used for future life. In getting a job, choosing the perfect spouse, raising a family of children who will contribute to society.

Being human is a very unusual term.

In the ancient times, using the term "son of man" which was synonymous with human, was something that showed unworthiness. It was a symbol of all that was corrupt, selfish and evil on earth. Many people view humans as inherently evil because they think that humans exists only to please themselves. To satisfy animistic and biologically induced wants.

Others believe differently.

They believe that humans care, that they wish to do good and love. They believe that we are superior to all other animals that exist. That through our ideas, creativity and merits we have dominance over society and our lives.

I believe BOTH.

We are both angels and demons. Neither perfect or completely incompetent. Though we have dominance over the earth, we must treat it right. We must learn to love, do good, continually advance. We must not fall to the self pleasing pleasures that we have in each of us. We must acknowledge our imperfections that all of us have, but we must overcome them. Because if our world is to improve, than each of us must improve too.