A while back, I listened to Zoë Keating’s TEDMed talk and musical performance. She is a cellist who adds depth to her creations with multiple tracks on her computer. I’ve always admired her creativity, and also knew that she’d suffered a very sudden significant loss several years ago.
She talked about the process of supporting her husband’s battle with cancer, but the thing she said that moved me the most was about how an audience helped her heal and feel connected to humans again.
We are in an important relationship, you and I. As an audience, you are not simply the passive recipients of the artist’s creativity. Nope. This is a collaborative effort, and your appreciation for and acceptance of our art (be it writing, music, pottery, painting or whatever), is an essential element in the mutual healing that occurs from the creation and performance of that art.
Through the sharing of art, we heal ourselves and each other. Remember, then, the importance of your role in the audience. We can all be the saviors of our humanity.
You can see and hear Keating’s talk and music below. Might want to get a tissue before playing.