For full text of Neil Gaiman's speech:
http://www.uarts.edu/neil-gaiman-keynote-address.
"And remember that whatever discipline you are in, whether you are a
musician or a photographer, a fine artist or a cartoonist, a writer, a
dancer, a designer, whatever you do you have one thing that's unique.
You have the ability to make art.
And for me, and for so many of the people I have known, that's been a
lifesaver. The ultimate lifesaver. It gets you through good times and
it gets you through the other ones."
-Neil Gaiman
“In a time of destruction, create something.”
―
Maxine Hong Kingston
I think these two quotes go together pretty well. It doesn't matter who you are or what you do for a living, I think creating something - writing or taking pictures or singing or playing an instrument or whatever you do - helps in not-so-great situations. Maybe not right away, but eventually.
And there's kind of a balance to it, too, don't you think? When there is destruction, if you create, at least you have added some little bit of energy, of newness in the world. Even if it's just a silly poem you wrote, nonsensical and laughable...well, you did something, didn't you? You created something. And that's not nothing. Maybe it's not on the same scale as the destruction, whatever it was, and it doesn't even out, but still. It's something. You're adding to art, to creation.
