Do you ever wonder why Mozart can calm an infant? Have you ever seen a small child fixated by an Ansel Adams portrait? Have you ever found yourself enamored by the unmistakable beauty found in a song or dance? The answer is simple: Art is healing. Art is comforting. Art just makes you feel good.

While you’re sitting on your living room couch with the lights dimmed, staring at that oil painting you found at some little shop, while visiting your brother in Oregon, you might not notice how much time can pass while you literally sit there and do nothing. Hey, it beats watching the television. It’s calmer; it’s quieter. It just makes you feel good to let your body relax and your thoughts wander simultaneously with your eyes wandering around the painting.

Some might argue that “the arts” are dying and the world is spending too much time watching television. Though there may be many hours wasted in front of the tube, one cannot deny that even on T.V., the role of “the arts” is alive and well. Some of the top television shows are based solely on artistic creativity and talent: Dancing With the Stars, American Idol, and Last Comic Standing – just to name a few. This article is not intended to promote laziness or condone one becoming a couch potato. It is merely to give you an opportunity to acknowledge and take advantage of what is right in front of you.

If you have ever wanted to take a picture of a pretty flower or the changing leaves, if you’ve ever been inspired to sing after hearing a moving song on the radio, or joined a dance class after watching Dancing With the Stars, then you are appreciating the arts. Art truly is an intricate part of the very fabric of our lives. It is everywhere; it is in everything. It is even on the wall in front of me as I type this article.

Take a moment to sit back, enjoy, and truly appreciate the beauty and gifts that surround you. Go see a local play or buy a new CD. Just look around. Sit on that couch and spend an hour staring at the painting with Mozart on in the background. Just breathe and allow yourself to feel good.