Arts + Health - How Working in the World Artfully Can Keep Us Well

My crooked photograph of my mother's beautiful work!

Before we can be fully effective in our lives, we need to be grounded and well. Unfortunately, our society is suffering from an epidemic of anxiety, which is pervasive in many worlds, including business. But, business culture may be less tolerant of the open management of this challenge than other realms, compounding the problem. Arts have been a universal communal expression for thousands of years and, I would argue, part of the reason for that is the sense of shared purpose that rises from art’s collaborative creation and appreciation. Hence, the arts can be used to foster interpersonal connection and, in turn, that connection can also foster wellness and effectiveness at work. 

An inappropriately personal anecdote. My mother had her first — what they used to call — nervous breakdown in the early 1950s. Dad was fighting in Korea while my mother was raising my oldest brother Steve in Oskaloosa, Iowa. She had few friends there and no family. She was institutionalized nearby and my father was called back from Korea to lend his support. Over the next 25 years or so she was in and out of state hospitals as she suffered relapse after relapse. During those years, she received psychotherapy and whole range of antipsychotic drugs, many of which are no longer in use. But, painting grounded her. She went on to get a masters degree as an oil painter and never went back to the hospital; at least, not as a patient. She did go back, however, to paint murals on the walls for those still institutionalized at some of those hospitals. Only now, is science proving that the experience of art can improve mental health outcomes. But, I've known that in my gut for a long time!