My favorite moment in the Oscars was when Inocente won for best short documentary. Inocente is the name of a homeless, undocumented, teenager living in San Diego. She is also an artist. The film shows how she has used her creativity to bring a measure of joy into life. She fills her life with color: on her clothes, on her canvases and even on her face. Creating is what makes her resilient.
The film moved and inspired me, and I choked up when she appeared on the Oscar stage with the co-directors of the film. She was crying, and one of the directors, Sean Fine, said:
“We want to thank this young lady who was homeless just a year ago and now she’s standing in front of all of you. She’s an artist and all of you are artists and we feel like we need to start supporting the arts. They’re dying in our communities. And all of us artists, we need to stand up and help girls like her be seen and heard. It’s so important. Thank you.”
I wanted to shout amen to his plea for the arts. Our ability to create - art, food, music, dance, crafts, space, words - is part of our divinity. Tapping into that creative power is healing. It's empowering. It's spiritual.
Inocente's story makes me want to create and build and express more. I find a lot of joy in experiencing others' creative powers, but I would like to spend more time tapping into my own. Like Inocente, let's change our lives and the world through art!
P.S. You can watch Inocente's film on itunes.
