Surrealism, a noun. An early 20th century movement in literature and art based on the expression of non rational thought, and seeking to suggest the activities of the subconscious mind by use of incongruous juxtapositions of ideas or images. This definition proves that creative thinkers are not nut balls, but crucial to the existence of the human being.

Life imitates art or so the saying goes. I believe that life is art. There is an art to living and we each have a different style to offer. Our lives are lived subjectively and should not be judged by anyone but ourselves. After all it's your life, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Life can take on surreal qualities when looked at through an open mind and heart. In fact I would advise most people to step back and try to view their lives and it's possibilities in as many ways as possible, as if viewing a work of art.

I am disheartened in this era of "think different", that we who do, are so often categorized distastefully. First of all to be categorized, pigeon holed or filed neatly away is distasteful in itself. A child of a friend of mine was recently told he didn't quite fit 'in' at his school because he wasn't proficient at reading and writing. He could however read music and knew by heart all the formulas for creating a specific color. He is eight years old and attending a school that was founded on radical thinking, but it seems a child who thinks different from their way of different thinking just does not fit in. I thought the whole purpose was not to fit in, but to excel and contribute. I remember my own daughter was criticized for being overly imaginative at nine years of age. Can you imagine! How is that possible? People who could imagine the unimaginable created this world we live in.

The quality of life has to do with the way it is perceived. It should be filled with art. Art can be anything that you choose to see with your mind. Nature is life's canvas, but everything man has created can contribute to this beauty. It can be as simple as the design of a corkscrew with it's highly polished twisted metal to a first drawing from a child. We are indebted to our creator for our life and must choose ways to support and purport art.

There are many ways to support the arts. It depends on who you are. You can buy art and directly support the artist by validating his vision or donate funds for scholarships, in hopes of catching an artist and giving them the opportunity to thrive and be prolific. But perhaps you have no funds to spare. Look inside and discover who you are. What do you see? A male dancer that supports his partner is supporting the arts. A stripper getting breast implants is supporting her art. The ink manufacturer supports the tattoo artist, a piece of chalk given to an artist with a clean sidewalk or the asphalt layer who builds new blacktop roads, curving and sinuous for those beautiful hunks of steel. There is even the simple design of a pair of scissors, so useful and yet truly elegant. See what I mean.

It is up to us to view the world subjectively, to be harmonious with our inner beauty to project it onto others and the environment. We are the lucky ones. We are alive and only we can make a difference, because we are different. Celebrate your life, see the world through a different lens, support the arts, buy some picture hooks and put up something that is beautiful to you. Then invite comments. And remember, art like life is subjective.