The difference in our opinions stems from the fact that Dr. Maisel is an atheist, whereas I am a firm believer in God. I want to state, though, before I continue, that anything I write is not meant to be judgmental, critical or because I think I'm better than anyone else. Actually, I can understand how people become atheists. If there is a God, why does he allow so much pain and suffering? Why do so many innocent and good people get cancer or any other debilitating life-threatening disease? How can he let the children in Africa starve to death? I believe the Bible gives a very satisfying answer to questions like that, but unfortunately, most churches fail to teach it. The answer often given when someone dies, for example, is "God needed another angel in heaven." I personally find that thought ludicrous. That is not what the Bible teaches. A God of love would not allow someone to die in a horrible car accident because he needed another angel in heaven. However, why people become atheists, and the answers the Bible gives to the questions above, is an entirely different discussion.
If a person has a belief in God, then his life has an immediate "meaning." The artist's need to create and gain fulfillment through that creation is a secondary and "personal" need for additional meaning. The Bible starts out by explaining God's purpose for man being on the earth in the very first book. (If you are an atheist reading this, you also don't believe the Bible is the word of God, so what follows probably won't have a whole lot of significance to you.) Genesis 1: 28 tells us, "Further, God blessed them and God said to them: ‘Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth'." God's original purpose for man was to be the caretakers of the earth. He wanted them to be fruitful, to fill the earth with loving families. If Adam and Eve had not wanted to be their own lawmakers and be like gods, as demonstrated by their failure to obey the one and only simple law God gave them, we could still be enjoying that original paradise.
God also created man with very different abilities than the animals. Genesis tells us that God created man "in his image." It isn't talking about his physical image, because God is invisible and of the spirit realm. Humans have physical bodies. We were made in God's image, however, in the sense that he gave us a conscience and the ability to love, to understand justice and to reason. Animals have limited reasoning abilities and do most things by instinct. (Contrary to what scientists tell us, though, I'm quite sure our dogs love me!) The ability to love and receive love gives great meaning to our lives right from the very start.
Most people agree that humankind is also born with an innate spiritual need. This also separates us from the animals. It gives our lives meaning. (As a side thought, I wonder how evolutionists explain this. Somehow I just don't see how a single cell or amoeba that accidentally came into existence, and managed by some unknown means to split and replicate, could fathom that, not only did it need to evolve in such a way that it could become both male and female life forces, but also develop in a way to acquire a spiritual need.) People fill this need in many different ways. I have read several testimonies from artists in Artellaland that say they find creating art fulfills them in a spiritual sense. Others in Artellaland feel that God inspires their art and writing. Perhaps that is why King Solomon, one of the wisest men to have ever lived, summed up our reason for existence in this way: "The conclusion of the matter, everything having been heard, is: Fear the true God and keep his commandments. For this is the whole obligation of man." (Ecclesiastes 12:13)
I'm sure I could write many more paragraphs on this subject, but if you've read this far, I bet you're thinking you're ready to move on. Suffice it to say, our God given ability to love and to receive love gives us the truest "meaning" in our lives. Jesus, in fact, said the two greatest commandments were about love. " After the Pharisees heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they came together in one group. And one of them, versed in the Law, asked, testing him: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 He said to him: "‘You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.' 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. The second, like it, is this, ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets." (Matthew chapter 22) One way that those of us who find fulfillment in creating art can show our love is by giving it to others.