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i.v. fluid sick

This has been a challenging year for me and my family.  Through grim periods and light, buoyant ones, I have often turned to art for inspiration, solace and distraction. I've always understood on some level that art is important, not just as an optional luxury that can only be valued when times are good. However, this year, my understanding went bone deep that art can keep us breathing.

I have been writing for fun, which has encouraged my kids to write for fun.  We've been tracing images, creating comics and inventions. We watch movies and make movies and critique movies. I have been reading books to shut out the world or to open it up.

A friend recently admitted that she kind of wished that she were just enough sick to be in hospital on i.v. fluids for a few days to get caught up on sleep and netflix.  "You know," she said, "i.v sick, but not so sick you cannot sleep or enjoy movies."

I like to think about art as a fluid.  It is normally circulating through us, keeping us healthy when things are good; it is i.v. fluid supplementing our blood supply when things aren't so good.




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