We spend much of our lives pursuing what is practical.
We study to become lawyers, doctors, engineers, accountants, builders. We learn trades and professions that keep the world functioning. They are important pursuits. Society depends on people who can heal the sick, design bridges, draft contracts and solve problems.
These professions sustain life, but they don't fully explain why we want to live it.
The things that give life meaning are often less measurable.
A song that stops you in your tracks. A poem that says exactly what you could not find words for. A painting that changes the feeling of a room. A dance performance that leaves you strangely moved.
None of these are essential in the same way as food, shelter or medicine. But remove them from the world and something profoundly human disappears.
Art is often dismissed as decorative or indulgent, especially during difficult times. When money is tight, creative pursuits can feel like luxuries we can't justify.
But that view misses the point.
Art is not what we turn to after life’s necessities have been met. It's one of the reasons we endure the struggle of meeting them in the first place.
We work hard to build homes, support families and navigate responsibilities because we want a life that feels meaningful. We want beauty, connection, surprise and moments that remind us we are more than our obligations.
That's what art offers.
A good painting doen't solve your practical problems. It does something subtler. It reflects a part of you back to yourself.
It gives shape to feelings you did not know how to articulate. It makes a space feel more personal, more alive, more like home.
The same can be said of music, poetry and dance. They remind us that we are not machines built solely for productivity.
We are emotional beings looking for resonance.
We want to be moved, challenged and to feel that our lives contain something beyond utility.
That's why art matters. Not because it's necessary for survival, but because it speaks to the part of us that wants life to mean something.
And in the end, that may be the most necessary thing of all.