Julie Noparstak, LCSW

The arts have been for me, a way of life. I studied music and theater in my younger days and that training filled me with a life long appreciation. It is through the arts that I find a deep connection with myself, and a greater understanding of others. While I no longer perform, the medium of artistic expression continues to be a way for me to connect with myself, and my passions. It fuels my understanding of people as well, in my work as a clinical social worker.

As we listen, watch, and experience art of any kind, we are taken outside ourselves to a different level of understanding. While all art has form and structure, it is the feelings that get stirred up in us-our reactions that are the magic., the key to transcendence. What touches us is unique, depending upon where we are in our own self-awareness and how open we can become to the art before us. Music, theater, art of any kind, can provide an escape from our day-to-day existence into another dimension. This experience cannot necessarily be validated externally or logically explained, but it is an inner shift-a transformation.

The arts provide a platform to experience our ‘Self” on a different plane. When we participate in art –whether as a performer, or as an appreciative audience member, we are given the opportunity to grow and stretch beyond our normal experiences. By letting go of linear thought and reasoning, we are open to the expansion of consciousness art provides. This phenomenon is compounded when we share art with others.

I have myself experienced this rapture of feeling while attending live events. When music, words, or visuals are shared in a common space with others, the connections become alive and vibrant. It has happened for me at rock concerts-where the mood and energy lifted me beyond the mundane. I have felt it as well at beautifully performed classical concerts, energized jazz venues, traditional and contemporary theater, and in the stillness of art galleries as well.

It is when we feel the art in our bodies and souls that we change. The experience of music vibrating through us fills us with new energy. Thought provoking messages and images from play writes, visual artists, and photographers capture a new way of looking at things. When we internalize this, it provides an opportunity to see the beauty in life-from a new vantage point.

If you do not believe me, or if you have forgotten, try it. Go to see a live show, concert, or exhibition and open yourself to the magic. What interests you? Listen to that nudge and act on it. Try something familiar or something completely new. Be open to live in the moment of creative expression and you will find healing and personal growth. Through art, we grow and expand our horizons. The artists of the world already know this. Why not join in?