6/8 — Society needs artists, musicians, storytellers and teachers as much as doctors and lawyers
PART SIX of prolific, invisible artist, The Mollusc Dimension’s personal reflections on perilous journeys in a thought-provoking 8-part picture book/essay: “Flying Across The Forbidden Ocean — Health Through Creativity”.
I understand there is a widespread desire in parents who have immigrated to the United Kingdom to wish for their children to become doctors and lawyers. I have noticed this a lot in Asian parents while a British-Nigerian friend voiced that this can be found among African parents.
I can see the appeal of visualising one’s child being able to help people by gaining special skills and authoritative knowledge, and establishing oneself as a respected figure in a particular field. If respectability means serving and being useful to the community, an interesting question arises..
Q. What does it really mean to be a doctor or a lawyer?
A doctor is someone who heals — “makes people feel better”. Many types of health professionals help people to feel better, for example; psychologist, therapists, counsellor, physiotherapists, dance instructor, gym instructor, football coach, sports teacher, yoga teacher, to name but a few. As a musician, whether it was for a happy or sad occasion, people have told me my music soothed or transported them.
Think of a significant day (such as your wedding or a birthday) without any music. Or think of your favourite film without music. Does this tell you something about the power of music?
A lawyer seeks justice, addresses “unfair” situations. There are many ways to seek justice. A lawyer could be an activist, someone who sees the need for change or to protest unfairness.
In a recent interview, Karl C. Pupé makes concerning points about the number of teachers leaving the profession. I understand from this that it both stems from and perpetuates racism. Can you believe that the total number of school teachers who are Black African, Caribbean, mixed or other in the WHOLE of England is under 3%.
Check the data and be ready to feel differently about the education system and how it is failing young people. For example, when we hear about the rise in youth knife violence, particularly vulnerable are young black boys/youth. And if the number of teachers who can relate to ANY disadvantaged experience is at such a disproportionate level, it is hardly surprising that problems in self-esteem and healthy aspirations may be a problem for those students and, for society. Pupé’s work is immensely enlightening for anyone working in education, with youth, and in diversity.
Artists, writers, poets, dancers, film-makers and all sorts of storytellers — help people to feel and see the world in a different ways. Art can be a form of medicine: discovering new angles, remembering and understanding. Art can seek and restore justice and balance. From personal experience, I am of the opinion that by following our natural, creative instincts, we tend to our own emotional and physical health, and this mental health is as important as physical health.
If a fear of parents for their children is the fear of poverty, then maybe the opposite of poverty is prosperity- both in terms of financial stability, abundance and also cultural, intellectual and even spiritual richness.
Would you be able to enjoy prosperity in a climate of ignorance and violence?
Could peaceful relations/ a harmonious society be a type of prosperity?
In my opinion, it is not necessarily just conventional doctors and lawyers who hold the keys to community prosperity but Makers, Teachers, Youth workers, Community workers, Social workers, Cultural Researchers and people who question the way that things are and give individuals to tools to bring about positive change.
Artists help people to feel and see the world in a different ways.
Next Part Coming Soon:
7. Could “ Tiger Mums” be.. a bit Victorian?
There are 8 parts to this picture book/essay:
- Part 1. Flying Across the Forbidden Ocean — An East-Asian Artist’s fight for health through creativity
- Part 2. I’m mostly self-taught as an artist and here’s why
- Part 3. Art saved my life and keeps me alive — Mental Health Through Creativity
- Part 4. My parents feared that if I was an artist, this would happen..
- Part 5. How would a degree in a creative subject help my child to find work?
- Part 6. Society needs artists, musicians, storytellers and teachers as much as doctors and lawyers
- Part 7. Could “ Tiger Mums” be.. a bit Victorian?
- Part 8. If this is a creative destination, what happens next?
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