Doctors of the soul

W

hen students are asked by adults about what they plan to study after finishing high school, they can sometimes receive looks of disappointment (or even disapproval) if their answer is: "I want to study a degree related to one of the arts!" These adults maybe consider that, by going for a career that involves being in touch with the application of human creative skill and imagination (for example, visual arts like painting, or literary and performing arts) you can be less intelligent than a Physics student, or that you are making a bad use of your potential. 

In our society, it is more valued to be useful at improving technology and/or our economy by being an entrepreneur than to communicate with people through beauty - and this is because only a few people believe that this last job is profitable. But, why should it be that way? Why should an artist be less respected than a doctor?

Nevertheless, through the past quarantine because of COVID-19, I saw that people were realising how important taking care of culture is and that it should be encouraged to everyone. When we thought that materialism was the key for a successful world, hard times showed us how wrong we were. We could live with less belongings or technology, but not without Art, because it is Art what makes us who we are, what makes us human. 

It is only us who can be moved by staring at a beautiful marble sculpture, by listening to the perfectly balanced chords that compose a symphony or by watching the happy ending of a film. And, as I mentioned before, Art contains our essence because it is all around us since the day of our birth, witnessing important steps we make, which, if it wasn't for Art, wouldn't be so unforgettable - or, at least, not so special. We remember joyful moments and not-so-great ones, but Art has been in many of them. I remember those nights in which my father read me fairy tales until I feel asleep, and the music that played in my headphones the first time I took a flight, and I also can’t leave behind the valuable time I shared with my sister when we were little and had our private karaoke sessions.

Art connects us and defines us, so therefore we needed it more than ever when we were confined. It is a fact that, when we are a little down, we use its power to make us feel better. It is the medicine of the soul.

Personally, I believe that there is nothing greater than studying something so powerful that could stop the world if it wasn’t there and that, simultaneously, has the ability to make it move forward. So, even though these students in the field of arts and humanities were expected to contribute to society by working at its industries or by conducting difficult experiments, what others didn’t know is that they will be the ones who keep oiled the engines of civilization.