I feel like back in the day, all of our ancestors were dancers, painters, musicians, and singers. Nowadays, a very small percentage of us engage in such endeavors. One obvious reason is that few of us would be considered good enough to make a profession and livelihood out of it. Although this is rather obvious, it's highly significant. Back in the day when our species lived in tribes, we all made our living by hunting and gathering and had time to pursue whatever medium of self-expression we wanted. Contrast that with the modern man, who spends his day at a job 9 to 5, who'd get fired if his boss found him painting or playing the guitar when he should have been working out the terms of the merger or something.
The most important reason that I wanted to discuss here was about how our current society makes us afraid to express ourselves, a brand-new concept to humanity. We have the technology to send pictures, videos, and music around the world and back again almost instantaneously. The artwork of the best of the 7 billion of us on this planet can therefore be witnessed by the world, and that artwork has become the unconscious standard for our own artistic expression. Not only is this standard ridiculously high and unreasonable, but it is also historical. Today's art can be judged the world-over by every piece of art ever created. So, not only are you being judged against the creme de la creme of 7 billion people, but also by the billions of people before us. Picasso, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli.
Having seen the greatest art our species has ever created, we feel inadequate when our pencil drawing doesn't turn out to be the next Sistine Chapel or Last Supper. Our ability to experience the best art of our species has stifled our own individual desire for creative expression- we fear the mockery of our fellows, who too judge our art by the same global and historical standards.
Note that the effect is even more pronounced in industries like musical entertainment. Many of us play instruments, but far fewer of us create original pieces. We fear that we won't be able to create the next Free Bird or Stairway to Heaven, and will be judged by such by our peers. This standard is even more ridiculous in our current context. Modern pop music has essentially made a science out of creating music that will sell eg. Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus. That's how our creative work is judged. The effect is that we fear what we might create in our own work.
There are several problems with all of this. One, self expression is very, very important for one's psychological well-being. It's the same feeling as being furious for some reason, and then spending a lot of time in your room yelling and screaming and punching things, then feeling better afterwards. It's like adding Mentos to Diet Coke. Keeping those locked securely inside the bottle means the pressure will build until it explodes. Release the top, and the mixture will pour out, leaving the bottle structurally sound.
Second, it precludes us from participating in a pleasurable activity. Being afraid of trying to create art means that you will never be able to experience the pride of a completed work. Also, it's usually pretty fun in general.
Third, it's changed our meaning of art. We look at something our friend drew as technically art, but not art in the sense of a Da Vinci-an work of art. It's made us not appreciate art that's sitting right in front of us. As a beholder, think of art as a way to experience the feelings of somebody else. Whatever your friend drew is merely a physical representation of whatever was inside of them they wanted to express. Appreciate the art not in terms of how it compares to somebody else's, but the sentiments and emotions behind it. The best will make you feel as they did at the time. That's true art.
