Active hands-on making and reciprocal exchange between oneself and a medium engages and encourages us to be present, practice patience, and question how we see the world. Art challenges assumptions and reminds us of the importance of being present, seeing oneself and others through the limits and possibilities of working with material. The relationship one develops with a material like clay, for instance, parallels the relationships we have with others and self-care. Much like a friendship or personal, mental, emotional, and physical health, clay has to be nurtured, taken care of, checked on, has to dry slowly and carefully. If our wet clay is neglected, it will crack, but with careful attention, it can be reclaimed and turned into something else—the material forgives us but also holds us accountable. The physical process of making teaches us how to care, love, and forgive ourselves and others, increasing our capacity to love and forgive in so many circumstances.

The arts communicate many positive values to the world through making, viewing, and experiencing accountability, empathy, love, sincerity, respect, humility, openness, mastery, patience, justice, and so forth. Art encourages honest reflection about one’s humanness and place in the world.