{"id":1251,"date":"2016-10-18T17:00:49","date_gmt":"2016-10-19T00:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/?p=1251"},"modified":"2017-05-07T15:52:13","modified_gmt":"2017-05-07T22:52:13","slug":"the-necessity-of-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/the-necessity-of-art\/","title":{"rendered":"the necessity of art"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I remember when I first fell in love with Regina Spektor&#8217;s music. I had just turned 16 and had learned how to drive a\u00a0stick-shift. \u00a0My mom had put me in charge of driving my brother and some teammates to football practice every day. \u00a0As I made the 20-minute trek back and forth and stalled at every red light, Regina sang to me in the background.<\/p>\n<p>I bought the album Far and fell in love. \u00a0Why did I buy that album? \u00a0I don&#8217;t remember. \u00a0I saw it at Target and thought, I would like this. \u00a0I had known some of her previous songs, like The Call, Samson, and Fidelity, but I hadn&#8217;t listened to anything else by her.<\/p>\n<p>As I undertook the stressful journey of switching from 2nd to first gear at every red light, \u00a0I fell in love. \u00a0Her lyrics were more than just &#8220;I love you but you broke my heart&#8221;, but they told stories. \u00a0I became obsessed with finding out the hidden meaning behind each song. \u00a0I tried to discover her stories.<\/p>\n<p>I love her music because her songs are more than just a love songs. \u00a0She uses metaphors and similes and alliteration and puts it to music. \u00a0She uses her music as a commentary on relationships as well as deeper issues in society. Her voice is so simply beautiful. \u00a0Accompanied by simple piano melodies, this combination provides the perfect setting to touch other&#8217;s minds in a moving way.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1256\" src=\"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/piano-instrument-music-keys-159420-1024x684.jpeg\" alt=\"piano-instrument-music-keys-159420\" width=\"1024\" height=\"684\" srcset=\"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/piano-instrument-music-keys-159420-1024x684.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/piano-instrument-music-keys-159420-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/piano-instrument-music-keys-159420-768x513.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This is the type of art that I appreciate. Art that makes me think and makes me want to change. \u00a0Art that moves me to be more creative and see the world around me in a different way. \u00a0Art that helps me empathize and understand someone else&#8217;s perspective. Art that motivates me to change. \u00a0Art that instigates gratitude and appreciation.<\/p>\n<p>There is a necessary power behind any form of art: music, theater, poetry, paintings, photography, and literature. \u00a0It is because of these things that we can understand each other when it seems impossible to find common ground. \u00a0It is through these mediums that we can connect with others. \u00a0For me, music holds some of my fondest memories. \u00a0I turn to music when I am in pain and I find empathy through the lyrics. \u00a0I turn to music when I am happy as it encourages celebration. \u00a0I also can have a deeper appreciation for experiences that others are having that I have not experienced. \u00a0As Atticus Finch would say, it provides an avenue for me to crawl into someone else&#8217;s skin and walk around in it.<\/p>\n<p>Art&#8217;s ability to touch our hearts in ways that nothing else can is almost a necessity for experiencing humanity. \u00a0 It is through art that we can see the world in all of its different lenses.<\/p>\n<p>When I listen to Regina now, it brings me back to driving that stick-shift in the dead heat of the Arizona summers. \u00a0It brings the calm of knowing that I can accomplish anything. It reminds me of the power of music and creativity in my life. \u00a0It inspires me to be productive and learn something new.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.spotify.com\/?uri=spotify%3Auser%3A1247902633%3Aplaylist%3A6J6RCDHE9ZFfD0ijb1eiSg\" width=\"300\" height=\"380\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I am curious, what does music or any art form do for you? \u00a0Do you associate specific music with certain experiences or emotions? If so, tell me about some pieces or songs that do this for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I remember when I first fell in love with Regina Spektor&#8217;s music. I had just turned 16 and had learned how to drive a\u00a0stick-shift. \u00a0My mom had put me in charge of driving my brother and some teammates to football practice every day. \u00a0As I made the 20-minute trek back and forth and stalled at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,19],"tags":[35],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1251"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1251"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1257,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1251\/revisions\/1257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emmaletters.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}