How American Symphony Reminded me that Creativity is a Wellness Practice
Last week I watched “American Symphony," a documentary that provides an intimate look into the lives of composer/musical artist/Grammy winner Jon Batiste and his wife, writer/author/speaker/artist Suleika Jaouad.
The doc was originally intended to follow Jon as he created a musical composition for Carnegie Hall called “American Symphony,” but when they found out Suleika’s leukemia returned...all that changed.
Suleika is brave and beautiful and brilliant. She's also a living miracle.
At 22, she was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia that has a 35% survival rate. She wrote about it for The New York Times and turned her columns into a memoir, Between Two Kingdoms. You can read more about her here.
During her first leukemia battle, she turned to writing. As it says on her website: "...faced with a grim prognosis, she realized she didn’t want to wallow—she wanted to make something useful, even beautiful."
After the recurrence in 2021, her vision was impacted by some of the medications she was given. Instead of writing, she started to paint.
"Creativity is my way of making sense of the world, especially during difficult moments," she says.
While Suleika is back to fighting for her life, Jon is nominated for 11 Grammy awards. He's not only preparing to perform at the Grammys, he's composing a symphony and assembling an orchestra of 63 people for a major career milestone.
There are many things left unsaid in this film. There are no in-depth interviews. You will have questions at the end.
But...you witness two people, who love each other, facing some of life's most difficult challenges, and how they are moving through them.
At one point, Jon says:
"You have to confront the brutal facts of the reality that you might not pull it off. But at the same time, have unwavering faith. Completely unwavering faith. And you have to do both at the same time."
Seems to sum up quite a bit of the human journey, I think.
And I'm reminded of the power of not just art, but creativity, to process, cope and quite simply, live.
I don't think making time for creative work is frivolous. I think it's an essential part of well-being at any point in our lives. Especially at the hardest times.
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