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I was looking for a book in the library to be used in a report in my HISTCIV class. I stumbled over this book entitled “An Introduction to Music and Art in the Western World.” Since the sessions covered within the week tackled visual arts, paintings in particular, I will take this opportunity to blog about what I have felt upon reading it.

I browsed the pages of the book and finally stopped in the section containing the different works of art by famous artists. I am not an avid fan of such works and I do not fully appreciate such pieces. I might sound bitter and I would not deny this fact partly because I consider myself as a frustrated artist. I love to draw and sketch my ideas using whatever materials I could grab, from my own pencil case to my mother’s garden. But then again, I think I am a failure in this field. I guess the only person who admired my work was my little sister, given that I will do her a favor afterwards. The thing that frustrates me most was the fact that all of my siblings have the talent to produce a great piece. I was always left in bewilderment, thinking of a reasonable explanation why I did not inherit such talent from my parents since they also excelled in the field during their younger days. On the other hand, I cannot do anything much about it so instead of dwelling into my frustrations, I have come to love my own masterpieces—my stick-figure people, my self-imposed butterflies, my own clothes line, all portraying myself as an individual. I no longer care if people would laugh at it as long as I appreciate my own works of art. I do not really need other peoples’ assurance that I did well because I did not intend to please anyone else but myself in the first place.

*mush corner*
I agree when Ms. Jewel said that life, indeed, is full of questions. People tend to question every single bit of reality although most of it cannot be explain in any way. We look for assurances in this world, that our very own existence is for real and not just some fantasy that we wished for. We rationalize everything, and once we found it we just realize it’s not what we are really looking for, hence, set out a new journey to search for another one again. We just never get contented with what we have. But this is where the essence of learning becomes truly realistic.