How Art Can Save Someone’s Life - Dar Dixon

In this Film Courage video interview, Actor Dar Dixon shares how art can save someone's life.
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#artist #life #psychology

[@ajtaylor8750]

Art has led me to writing stories about characters that reflect myself, paint and draw pictures giving off my true feelings and emotions, and anything else that allows me to reflect on my life. It's the only reason that I'm still here today, and without it the outcome of my existence would be totally different right now.

[@ToasterForLife]

My writing gave my life meaning and put me on the road to fulfilling my Purpose in this lifetime. I’m on this earth to tell stories that trigger an emotion or thought in people.

[@terryblanchard5842]

Film Courage is a God-send. For ALL artist of any medium. Im really glad to find this channel. I'm a painter, these talks are so worthwhile!

[@NickNicometi]

DITTO. I'm a visual artist, albeit stuck for some time unproductively, and I have some script/film ideas that have remained on 'the shelf' for a long time. These videos are film industry centric, but the plight of the artist is universal over all mediums. I am benefitting greatly from these interviews. Dar is a wise man.

[@egris00]

I agree. Iam also a painter and these interviews continue to help me through times of creative blocks and hard times. Thank you Film Courage!

[@mickierat]

I know this is off topic, but I just want to say that this show has some of the best sound I’ve heard in the interview format category. Thank you for doing it right. I wish more KZbin shows would take a cue from this and understand that poor sound sometimes just makes people want to shut it off. It’s so much easier to focus on the content of an interview when the sound is top notch.

[@acharich]

💯💯💯

[@NickNicometi]

In the video description, under "Stuff We Use", you will find the audio equipment they use for production.

[@RioBroski]

Art saves my life every single day...

[@terryblanchard5842]

I bet it's still working for you. Especially now 2021. Best to you!

[@captainhook4690]

Thanks for this!

[@colorblindco4078]

I am an artist now and I will remain an artist until I die.

[@obaiman123]

Keep going! 🌻

[@thelifeandtimesoftheunconv4536]

without ART ill be dead or in prison

[@13GManhan]

I´ve developed schizophrenia due to marijuana abuse. I was afraid of the world and of how cruel it can be. I tried to kill myself once. Obviously it didn´t work out. Looking back, besides my family, the only thing that helped me cope with my suffering was being sensitive to artists that I look up to who have also suffered, but moved on. Their artistry and the amount of work they put in no longer made me terrified, but inspired to accept myself and keep on trying to get a little bit better everyday. Nowadays I´m more in peace with myself and I try to do the best art I can with I have.

[@obaiman123]

Hi. Do you have your art available to the public? Kudos to you. Keep going! 🌻

[@davidlanier2290]

Very true very real story for me: TBI PTSD 3 year ago lost ability to speak read write. Am writer actor comedian. Because of Impro story skills, learning about story boarding i was able to heal and make vid with my autistic friend . Is pro grade mhop. Thank you for these videos...

[@gp3256]

Great honesty here, and the strength to remind all of us that art (whatever that is to you) right after love is the most important part of your life.

[@sean212]

Love watching these

[@verseOneFederation]

This was a cool unique interview, very insightful!

[@rODIUMuk]

Love the videos.- can you boost the volumes . Compression? I wouldn’t mind losing quality of the voice - if we gain clarity of the words

[@FUNNYMANERICWHITE]

I can relate coming out from a cult. Great interview

[@danieljohnadriel]

LOL I love how things just come up and we express the stories as we feel joy and have fun. Than my you for sharing cause your making me laugh..

[@svenk5221]

I am sitting here. I the midst of the night. Drinking. Very depressed. Considering suicide for weeks now. Lost my job a couple of weeks ago because of depression that's been triggered by a breakup that happened a year ago which I couldn't and still can't handle. I had a gf with two kids that I love(d) dearly. She was in a Christian cult. I was there with her. Never felt right. Brainwash, abusive leader etc... So she broke up with me because I wasn't into Christianity as much as she was. Couldn't even say goodbye to the kids. Broke me. In our last argument I lost it for 2 seconds. Pushed her. She felt. Told her I am sorry thousand times but still since that day she never spoke to me again. I didn't know that I was even capable of doing something like that. 34 years old. Never being violent in any Form before. I hate myself. Since a couple of weeks I am considering suicide or writing that novel I always wanted which is basically a thriller story that's about working on my childhood. Particular my abusive stepfather and the religios cult I was in for half of my life. They sent me off after the break off, too. So I lost all my social contacts in one second. I don't have a family anymore. I hope I will get to write that book before my depression wins. That video upload came just in time to encourage me. Thank you. I think that writing is the only thing left that can save me.

[@ryannixon4138]

Wish you luck man

[@timtitus7861]

We all want you to write that novel. We’ll get to see the other side soon enough, so let’s enjoy this playground of a life while we still have the chance. Life is cycles and when you’re down, it’s just the valley before the next peak. Send us a link when you publish

[@darkparker7500]

Write that book. And, after that another one, and another, and so on and so forth. Never give up. Do your best to think positively, even if the negative stuff cannot be forgotten. There is always hope for a better present, and future.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

That's a tough lesson to learn about yourself... and there aren't too many ways for me to know that. This world IS a tough and often violent place. It kind of sucks to reckon with it personally, but you wouldn't be a survivable creature on Planet Earth if you weren't capable... AND now you know. Forgive yourself... and try to do better tomorrow. What I'm getting at, is that these are ALL relatively temporary problems. Most of them don't seem like it, but they can figure themselves out. You need to take your time and breathe... let yourself have a moment to recover. Suicide is a really REALLY permanent solution... so it's not best applied around temporary problems. Maybe put it off, since you've considered writing a book, and that there are tons of other things to do in the meantime. As a tech' (day work)... I often hear a simple mantra. "It ain't worth a f*** now, so what difference does it make?" AND we (tech's) generally mean that since something is "f***ed up hopeless" as it sits, what could possibly get worse by us sticking our wrenches into it and figuring out what's probably wrong... so that's generally what we do. Stick wrenches (and lots of other tools) into things that are "f***ed up hopeless" and try to make them work again. It can be a hit and miss business, but... there's a good piece of philosophy that sprouts out of each experience. Thermodynamics dictates that you can't win. You won't break even... and you can't even afford to quit the game. This is the sum and total of the human experience. BUT the correct answer is ALWAYS "hope"... Hope to make someone's life a little better... even for a few moments. Hope to brighten someone's attitude, even if only your own. Hope to fix the miserable hunk of junk that you just struggled to open up. Hope that the problems you have today might look just a little bit smaller tomorrow. AND if you've ever opened a novel by Terry Pratchett, "Hope that one day the turtle will fly". It's easy to sit here at my terminal, tap away at keys and spread an idiotic series of "positivity" phrases full of pie-in-the-sky, and hope that I can pat myself on the back tomorrow... It's easy to tell you that things will be easier "someday"... AND I can only hope that by the time you see through that lie, you'll have forgotten me or my name. Alas, I'm not so forgettable for some reason (for a lot of folks)... SO I've learned not to lie about that crap. You really can't win, or perpetual motion machines would be pumping out free energy already. You won't break even, because entropy always wins... It's better organized and creeps into everything. The math suggests that it's possible to break even, but uncertainty determines that entropy steadily grows, and in practice, such is consistently the case. You CAN, but you won't break even... AND of course, by the time you can reach light-speed to escape the universe, effectively quitting the game, you'll require more than infinite amounts of energy to accomplish it... SO even the whole universe can't afford for you to quit the game. Such is the sum and total of human experience... BUT the correct answer is still "hope". Forgive yourself the failure of yesterday. You can't hold yourself accountable for information you weren't given. Apparently nobody else thought it worth telling you that you're capable of grotesque violence. You couldn't be expected to know that... but now you do. It's a decent and reasonable term of forgiveness. Hope to do better tomorrow... and try. It's really all we humans can manage. We try. Take up that book. Experiment around a few chapters, and then pop onto KZbin and sit through a few more videos with your questions written out... hold yourself a little accountable. You can't know what you need to find out until you've tried a bit... fumbled around a bit. Then you get the questions to ask... and look for answers. AND try to write the book again. It will (probably) take a few false-starts and some flailing about before you feel comfortable and plunge forward, damning all consequences until you get a product... BUT you know, there's a great many things I've done for more than a few years... and I'm still fumbling and finding new ways to screw them up too. Forgive yourself. AND try and hope to do better tomorrow. ;o)

[@royalylockdup6736]

Be mindful of what food you're eating. I've noticed when I eat junk food, old anxieties kick in and I get irritated at the smallest things. I suspect it's the sugar. It's in fkn everything. Also get into psychology and learn why we do/feel the things we do. It'll also help with understanding your characters in your novel. Hang in there mate. Give yourself time to heal. You WILL overcome this chapter in your life.

[@shakespearouac]

Dar-- SpeaksForMe.

[@urielosorio1187]

I’m not in the clear yet.

[@DJSTOEK]

💘

[@einsteindarwin8756]

I was in that Landmark “cult” if that’s what he’s referring to, but I didn’t spend 20-30 years like some people I know. I can’t afford it as a creative.

[@NickNicometi]

Landmark Forum?

[@ladystarart888]

✔️

[@darkridgeproductions2760]

Art is killing me... Let me rephrase, my graphic design job is killing me. Last check was $220, light bill is $450. Glory of being a starving art in Southwest Virginia. My first passion now is driving me insane. Never thought I would be here... Got a 4 year game design / art degree only to find out I can't escape the Appalachians. All my dream done was blind me into thinking a degree would be beneficial. It's took everything from me at this point and I don't know what to do anymore. I'm a 25 professional art failure. Don't be me...

[@KoongYe]

Dude. It's not art that killed ya. It's the expectation you had for the degree you were getting. You don't have to pursue art if you feel like it's making you miserable. I was a mechanical engineering major until my late 20s when I found out my passion for art it took 2 years to make a career out of it from having no experience at all. So never think 25 is too old to do sth about your life, art or no art. Do what you want to do.

[@IceHibiscus]

One personal anecdote does not a universal truth make. I'm sorry that you were in a bad place and had profound limitations imposed on your life. However, art did not do this to you. Similarly, the pursuit of art didn't do this to you. And, I am sure you realized this at some point. To varying amounts, degree programs being pushed by schools are not actually preparing the students for the real world. Shane Stanley touches on this in another video on this channel. Life is more complex than a school ill-preparing you for the design market, though. There is more than one way to reframe your problems. I hope you're in a better place these days.

[@acharich]

The latter part of the video is super true & something I've been trying to get my artists to catch.. ✨🙏🏾✨ - @Acharich

[@eec589]

If it worked for Miss Lonelyhearts, it can work for us.

[@pennykent5687]

Is it possible that someone could collaborate on the writing of a (my) story????? (I'm not a writer.) (This is a true story)

[@oldhollywoodangels]

sure

[@pennykent5687]

@@oldhollywoodangels thanx

[@Sifar_Secure]

That hairstyle looks like it's breaking into our reality from a parallel dimension.

[@acharich]

😅😅😅

[@lets7121]

boooorrrrriiinnnggg