Most of us, no matter what we say, are walking in the dark, whistling in the dark. Nobody knows what is going to happen from one moment to the next, or how one will bear it. This is irreducible. And it’s true of everybody. Now, it is true that the nature of society is to create, among its citizens, an illusion of safety; but it is also absolutely true that the safety is always necessarily an illusion. Artists are here to disturb the peace.
FROM: “An Interview with James Baldwin” (1961) during an interview with Studs Terkel published in Conversations with James Baldwin (1989)
REFLECTION:
- We don’t know what will happen from one moment to the next. Have you come to terms with the illusion of safety?
- Think about a time when you thought you could not bear it. How did you get through this time?
- What form of art do you create (i.e. cooking, writing, speaking, leading, photography, singing, etc.) How can you “disturb the peace” with you own artist expression?