Art + Health in the Heartland: On My Mind

Letter From Bentonville

.Greetings from Bentonville, Arkansas, where I’ll be taking part in the closing conversation of the Wellness Festival at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art with the museum’s founder, Alice Walton, on a subject close to both our hearts: the intersection of art, medicine, health and well-being.

On the grounds of the museum, Walton is building the Heartland Whole Health Institute and the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine. “The Institute,” says Walton, “is dedicated to transforming healthcare by advocating, educating and redesigning a system that supports physical, mental, emotional and social well-being so people can live full and meaningful lives.” And the School of Medicine will take that same approach in training the next generation of doctors, offering a four-year medical degree that enhances traditional medicine with the arts, humanities and whole health principles.

“I’ve personally seen how integrating the arts and nature into my own habits of caring for myself have had a positive impact on my overall health and well-being,” Walton says. “I believe I can help provide access to resources and experiences that can be transformative for individuals and communities.”

And transformation is urgently needed, with healthcare systems around the world breaking under the burden of chronic diseases. A whole human approach incorporates the science showing that our daily behaviors — sleep, food, movement, stress management and connection — have a bigger impact on health outcomes than medical care alone. And art can be a powerful tool.

In my book Thrive, I devote an entire chapter to how the arts help feed our fundamental need for wonder and awe, and the powerful effects this has on our health and well-being.

One of my favorite stories in Thrive is recounting a college assignment my daughter Isabella, an art history major, was given to spend two hours in a museum in front of a single painting and write about the experience. She compared the experience to pushing yourself through a long run and said that ultimately it gave her the same exhilarating runner’s high.

Alain de Botton describes art as “an apothecary for the soul.” And museums are one of the few remaining oases that dispense wonder and awe and allow us to disconnect from the world so we can connect with ourselves and what nourishes our body, mind and spirit.

Once we accept the science on the health impacts that art can have — and the science is undeniable — then it’s easy to see the idea of arts accessibility as a health equity issue. And we can see that coming together here in Bentonville. Since opening its doors in 2011, the museum has been visited by more than 12.2 million visitors, and all with no cost for admission. And around 400,000 children have experienced the museum through programs for school groups.

When we talk about the power of art on our health, it’s easy to see how narrow our definition of healthcare is. Health isn’t just what happens during doctor visits — if you look at outcomes, health is also what happens between doctor visits. That’s why the work that Walton is doing here is so important, going upstream to change medical education and making whole-human care a core part of what happens both inside hospitals and in communities.

I’m looking forward to discussing this and more with Alice here in Bentonville — followed by a large and nourishing dose of wonder and awe both inside the museum and on its gorgeous grounds.

You can watch the livestream of our conversation for free here

Practicing Microsteps, Patience and Gratitude

Thrive Global started with a fall. It was April 6, 2007, and I was lying on the floor of my home office in a pool of blood after collapsing from sleep deprivation. A month ago, I fell again. This time there was no blood, but a broken shoulder and a fractured knee. I wish I had a daredevil tale to tell, but at a dinner I co-hosted with Microsoft ’s Hayete Gallot at my home in LA, I was simply guiding guests from the hallway to the living room to gather around the piano to hear the amazing Rachel Platten play two new songs. And I tripped and fell. Not the best opening act for Rachel, but I did throw myself into it.

Since then I’ve been practicing my favorite Rumi quote, “Live life as if everything is rigged in your favor,” as well as all my Microsteps to support my healing. And I’m also practicing gratitude, spurred by all the incredibly kind and thoughtful messages I’ve received. I’ve fallen in love with healing foods like chicken feet soup, anti-inflammatory freshly grated ginger tea, turmeric shots and fresh puréed soup from leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower and spices (recipe thanks to Mona Vand). And of course, my favorite avgolemono (Greek chicken lemon soup).

I’ve played with different colors of Play-Doh (for muscle stimulation), applied ice packs, tried new tech gadgets like Erchonia lasers, Celluma LED light therapy, Biomat and DJO OL1000 for bone growth, and used some tried-and-true basics like essential oils.

I’ve been finding joy in smelling the white roses from my 20-month-old grandson, looking at favorite photos of my daughters and watching my personal Thrive Reset to breathe mindfully and remember all that I’m grateful for. Of course, I’m meditating and reading, reading, reading. Right now I’m in the middle of “Healing Spaces,” by Esther Sternberg.

And I’m building a whole new wardrobe fit for a broken shoulder — shirts from ReboundWear, and capes and more capes, which as of yet have not given me any superhero powers.

Last but not least, I’ve been remembering to be patient with myself and enjoying the progress I’m making daily (even when it’s small or not even apparent!). And so I’m including here a quote that was sent to me that applies to life with or without a broken shoulder:

BEFORE YOU GO

Neologism of the Month

New words, terms or phrases that define our time

“Parallel Scrolling,” the phenomenon of couples sitting or lying beside one another, each scrolling on their phones. It’s a way of being, as MIT’s Sherry Turkle put it, “alone together.” It’s also a kind of mutual “phubbing,” or snubbing someone by giving your attention to your phone. And it’s definitely not great for a relationship. As New York City couples therapist Tracy Ross put it, “Parallel scrolling — or just generally being on your phone — prevents the sharing of experiences, feelings and worries, creating more separateness, which is the opposite of connection.” Our ties to our ubiquitous phones remind me of Princess Diana’s famous line: “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.” Nowadays, every relationship is a bit crowded.

Stay Connected

This gorgeous image of a stand of Aspen trees in Colorado was shot by Robert J. Ross, and was one of the winning entries in the 2024 World Nature Photography Awards. Fun fact: Aspens grow in clusters connected by their roots, and a stand is considered one organism. When one becomes disconnected from the shared root system, it can be fatal. As with humans, connection is essential.

Moment of Wonder

This mesmerizing image of our galaxy, the Milky Way, was produced by David Chuss , a physicist at Villanova University, and an international team of astronomers. It uses infrared wavelengths with different colors representing differing temperatures of interstellar dust. The lines show the directions of magnetic force, which, like human attraction, is powerful even though it’s not always visible to us. As Dennis Overbye notes in The New York Times, “every new generation of eyes sees a new version of our galaxy.” It echoes one of my favorite quotes, by Susan Sontag, that “every era has to reinvent the project of ‘spirituality’ for itself.” And of course, the two are related — they’re both about connecting with something larger than ourselves.

Best,