Instead of worrying about the global meltdown — wringing our hands while computing our losses at the stock market — let’s deliberately find joy that transcends the material plane. Let art and music communicate with the inner chi that is impervious to anxiety, even just for a few hours. If art and music can unlock the heart and bring a lightness of being, that’s worth more than the US$700 billion bailout. Heed the advice of a wise Chinese proverb: “When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.”