I recently heard a woman that worked for a city (not Calgary) in the area of arts & culture saying that the attitude of her police department when it came to the arts was "what do the arts have to do with a hurt child lying in the middle of the street?"

Even upon typing that statement I can't help but see a clear image of a hurt child lying in the middle of the street. That's the power of a visual statement . That's the fodder of artists - and that's what the arts have do with a hurt child lying in the middle of the street.

Artists are influenced by their world, and they reflect that world through their work. Often this reflected voice is so strong that, for the viewer, life imitates art. In my own experience as an avid audience member and appreciator of art in all forms, this is often the case. Participating in a Remembrance Day Ceremony brings up the feelings I felt when reading (or watching) the most emotive scenes of Timothy Findlay's The Wars.

Embedded in this post are some thoughts on war spoken with more eloquence than my cumbersome words could ever bring to the subject.