Help. I feel so guilty and I cannot shake it.

[Tweedy]

47. Nonsense

Sorry but if artists needed stability to create this world would be an infinitely sadder place.

Milan Kundera wrote under soviet occupation.

The Good Soldier Svejik was written by a Czech when the Czech's were cannon fodder and non-entities in the Austro-Hungarian empire

And it isn't exclusive to Czech's

Goya painted during the Spanish Inquisition; as well as during the Napoleonic occupation of Spain.

I could go on and on and on.

One could argue that some of the best art comes from oppressed people, oppressed by governments, oppressed by plagues, even social morays.

What about Vincent Van Gogh's adult life was stable? Well, yes, there is his brother Theo.

Bottom line is simple: times of trouble are precisely the time to make art that bares the soul and reveals humanity in all of its resplendency and madness.

Stop fretting about what you have. Instead, think of what you want to say, show, reveal to the world about this moment, or about the world we have all lost.

Of course I understand. We are all in mourning. Even if our bare necessities are covered, we have lost so much.

To walk on the wind tossed beach in the rain right now would be bliss. It would be free, available to anyone where I am via inexpensive public transit.

Yet, none of us can take that walk. None of us know when we will be able to take that walk again. A walk on the beach is not a loved one struggling to draw breath. I know that awful sound well from long before this virus. It is not dying alone, losing your home or starving.

Nonetheless, that walk on the beach gave life its sweetness, its exuberance, its serene beauty. We are left only with the terrible beauty of life to be viewed through a window, behind a closed door.

Of course, we are in mourning and of course we feel guilty about it. Now, sit down and write, sing, play or paint this moment.

Trust me. It is the art that comes in this moment that will help humanity cope.