Alchemy of the Heart Requires a Philosopher’s Soul

So what’s that got to do with art?

Everything.

I believe that art should move you. I believe that art should make you feel something. At its very best, art should help you come to realize something important, something that is a matter of the heart. At its worst, art should anger you, stirring emotions that make you feel uncomfortable or question the foundations of your belief system.

Art should make you ask questions. Hard questions. It shouldn’t just be something that hangs on the wall and distracts you from the truth of life – that it’s hard, complicated, and full of change – some welcome, some not.

Alchemists searched for centuries, seeking the legendary Philosopher’s Stone, a source of power that would supply unlimited energy for alchemists to transform lead into gold, and ultimately the ability to transform anything in the physical world. Isn’t it ironic that something with enough power to change anything in the physical world would be named something so incredibly intangible as philosophy?

I think that the alchemists had it right, but were focused on the wrong kind of base element to transform – rather than metals, they should have been focusing on changing humanity’s baser instincts. I believe that the most powerful transformations are those that happen within the heart, and I also believe that to facilitate a change, to be the catalyst, one must possess a philosopher’s soul – a questioning soul.

It is my life’s goal to become a catalyst of change, transforming hearts, by possessing a Philosopher’s Soul and practicing Alchemy through Art.

Take my hand and join me on this journey to be the change we wish to see in the world.