You've likely heard the criticism that some people “can't see the forest for the trees.”

In my work, the far more common problem is that people stop being able to see the trees as soon as you tell them it's a forest.

What do I mean? Well, we latch onto a label: an identity, narrative, perspective… and then all the questions that we could be asking about who we are and what we do disappear under a thousand unseen assumptions…

We need to reimagine our most entrenched, accepted, obviously-true views when it comes to our work and its impacts. This creative practice of Imagining Otherwise — of refusing “how it is” — is how we break out of ourselves. It’s how we ignite new goals and paths forward

In short, we don’t get to choose whether to integrate the arts with healthcare, or with education, social services, or other settings. They’re already there.

Our only choice is whether they—and their effects—are intentional.

Three reasons why the Arts on Prescription Field Guide is a game changer

The multifaceted creative life can be rich and fulfilling. And. It also means facing the difficulty of forging our own paths. How do we build a career? Where do we invest our time and energy? Will it be worth it?

Truly, one of the most common themes in a creative life is uncertainty.

Sometimes the enthusiasm for art’s health impacts can create a sense that art is an intrinsically helpful activity: like the more you do it, the healthier you’ll be. By this logic, the people who make art the most would be the healthiest among us, right?

And that idea erases the lived experience of many artists…

“Arts and culture don’t just give us more ways to achieve theaconventional, limited, one-half definition of health. They have a unique ability to generate the presence of well-being…”

What if your doctor or therapist could prescribe a museum visit, art classes, or time in nature to support your health? The “CultureRx” program in Massachusetts is piloting this concept for the first time in the United States.

Art is a place in which we still feel like it is allowed or permissible to have the actual range of human experience that we actually have…where we give ourselves permission to have the challenging experience that we're having.

And it’s a place where we discover that other people have had that experience as well…

It all begins with an idea.

It all begins with an idea.