Sensitive

We live in a hypersensitive time. A time of transition in which we leave old values behind and along chaotic paths slowly move towards new ones. What these are exactly, no one knows yet. But they will be values that fit better in today's world, that will make us better able to deal with the present. It has been said of artists that they identify new social values at an early stage and represent them, often long before they have been articulated. New insights - and the formation of new values - are therefore very valuable to artists.

For most, however, it is difficult to leave old values behind. This is not because everything is so fantastic in the here and now, but because everything that is new and has not yet taken precise shape is uncertain. And "we" don't like that. Our brains protest against that, it happens all by itself, some more than others.

Currently there are many discussions going on that have a character of emancipation in them (and emancipation goes hand in hand with change), such as those about exclusivity and decolonization, but also those about women questioning their position in relation to men. An important part of this is the #metoo discussion, which is still stirring up a lot of dust and provoking a lot of resistance. And that resistance, in turn, provokes resistance.

Perhaps the latter is the most difficult form of resistance: resistance to resistance. Because how do you move forward if you don't embrace resistance, don't take it seriously? How can the people who fear change simultaneously embrace change, if their fear of it is not heard, not taken seriously?

Everyone is afraid, everyone is sensitive. So also all those people who get involved in all those discussions that are going on everywhere. Let's listen to each other and hear what we can't think of ourselves. Only then will you be able to go further and come to insights that your own brain cannot produce. New insights come from and generate creativity. That is not only valuable for artists, but for everyone who lives together with other people.
We all are.

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