A few weeks ago, I went out exploring downtown Austin with a couple of my friends. We took a bus down Congress and walked to Lamar and Baylor to find the Baylor art wall. This is the coolest place ever; it looks like a bunch of retaining walls probably left over from the old foundations of whatever structure used to be here, and it extends up a relatively steep hill. And its all covered in graffiti.
And it is SO COOL.
The pathway is sort of hidden under brush and winds up along the side of the lot. You have to be careful because its steep and the sand is kind of loose, but once you climb up and turn around, you find yourself looking over the entire city. The lights of downtown echo the stars above and pierce through the darkness of night, and at that height, the breeze feels like perfection, and you're just surrounded by these layers and layers of paint. You're very much aware of how many people have been here before you, how many people have left their mark, have done something as provocative and disruptive as publicly displaying their thoughts and creativity, and you understand how tiny you are in the grand scheme of the world. And its a glorious thing to realize, because you realize how amazing the world is, how grand and absurdly difficult to understand, and yet, you are this tiny privileged being with the opportunity to soak it all in and experience every adventure life has to offer.
"Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
-Pablo Picasso
Except, I think, art IS everyday life. You just have to make it so.
