I've been thinking a lot about what interconnectedness really means. I notice so often that when I'm conscious of an idea, thing, or person, it shows up around me in many different ways. It's the same concept as meeting a person, then realizing that they've been somewhere around you the whole time. They ride your bus, or pass you on the street walking to work. Suddenly you're aware of them and they show up all over the place. 

Now that I'm aware of the repetition of forms, and the connections between seemingly disconnected elements, everything seems so much more holistic. I see things not just as isolated events or objects, but connected to a wider undercurrent. 

As I begin teaching at Princeton high school, I hear students say things like "Art doesn't affect me- it's not like I'm going to become an artist." This is saddening to me, because I have seen that making art can open one's mind to concepts and ideas that might never have occurred to them otherwise. Even beyond this, creative problem-solving (central to making art) can be useful in so many ways. It can help in job interviews, a relationship, even with saving for a car! Everything is useful in some way, and relates back to your life, even if it seems unlikely. Cultivating an attitude of holistic perception will help in so many ways you had never dreamed.