The Destructive Self

We have all been designed to create in this life.  To fashion ideas into realities, to explore new thoughts, and to live lives that outwardly express the true inner self.

We marvel at those who who bring their art to life.  Musicians, Painters, and Poets.  We long to express ourselves in such a beautiful and constructive manner.

Because we don't know how to express ourselves (perhaps we really do know how, but choose not to for fear of what it will cost us) we live inwardly conflicted lives.  We secretly wrestle, quietly scream, and inwardly go to war.  We can't make sense of the tension and cannot express ourselves in the manner of the true Artist and so what comes from our hands is nothing short of destruction.

It may come through throwing the tools when you can't get the swing-set constructed just right or the tearing up of the canvas when the picture wasn't getting flushed out the way you envisioned.  It may come through hateful words when you and another fail to see each other fully, or worse, it may come into being when you strike another because they have unknowingly reflected to much of your worse self.

We destroy when the frustration of "what we wish to be is not what is" breaks past our capacity to hold it safely.

We destroy because the old container clearly does not work anymore and birthing the new is too labor-some.

These expressed fits of aggravation reveal something to us:

Our petulance for destruction is bound in our longing to create.

Please do not be startled anymore by the self that wants to scream, throw, and smash (do not bury it away, pretending that only the pietist within you exists).  Yet do not indulge it because of its ease; the unleashed destruction will only become amplified.  Instead, listen to it.  Invite it to sit and be still.  Let it, without fear, become a teacher for you; usher it to the light.

For it is an indicator that there is creative work yet to be done.

Van Gogh ReMixed

One of my son's assignments in art class this year was to create his own rendition of Van Gogh's Starry Night. So, in typical "boy fashion" my son re-mixed Starry Night into a sweet fire-breathing dragon epic of awesomeness.

If the wisest king in all of Israel was correct (and there really is nothing new under the sun) then we need to become masters of the re-mix. We need to learn from what was done before and allow it to inspire us to create something new.

Appear Stupid

If you are concerned with looking good, fitting in, and gaining mass appeal, your contribution's capacity for brilliance will be greatly diminished.

It's when we step outside the norm, offer an idea that seems ridiculous, or implement a plan that appears preposterous that we find ourselves on the cusp of something wildly (and creatively) "new".

Sure you might get laughed at, mocked, or relegated to the corner. But, you also might gain a fringe audience that, through your collective "stupidity", changes the world.

For all of us.

Doodlers Unite!

In a recent post I discussed my propensity to doodle. Sunni Brown's short talk on TED is good reminder of the doodle's importance.

Doodle

I am a doodler.

I doodle in notebooks, in the margins of important documents, and during meetings to keep my mind from wandering farther than it has already traveled.

Doodling offers no rules or outlined plan for a measured result. There are no misplaced marks when doodling, only new lines of intrigue. Doodling is freeing; no critic, no profit-loss statement to be analyzed, and no expectation of "company growth".

Yet for some, doodling is paralyzing. "What should be drawn?" "What if it doesn't turn out right?" "What if no one likes it?" These questions should never be entertained in the doodle process. They are anti-doodle.

Doodling is about uninhibitedly exploring "new", simply "because". Doodling is about getting something on paper as it just might be enough to birth inspiration. Doodling is about releasing that which we have held captive for fear of not fitting in.

I need to doodle more. Our world needs to doodle more. It begins with you.

What will you doodle?

The Art Around You

Last Saturday I was with my family at a collaborative art show/experience downtown Grand Rapids called Art Prize. Artists from all around the world entered their work to be on display throughout the downtown area.

Art in the buildings, outside of the buildings, on the buildings, street performers...at Art Prize, art is everywhere.

The Art is impossible to ignore.

In my daily routine Art doesn't emerge as brilliantly as it does at Art Prize. The mundane of each day (looking as it did the day before) has a way of neutralizing anything that speaks afresh. Sometimes in a sea of repetition, painted in variants of grey, it seems as if Art has left long ago.

This void of Art, beauty, creativity, and wonderment creates a vacuum in which the air itself becomes too difficult to breathe.

Yet the Art is not gone.

It is there; the Blue of the Sky, the Texture of the Tree Trunk, the Sound of Children, the Chill of a Fall Rain.

Lying just beneath the surface of the Institution, the cog of Industry, the Normal, and the Mass Produced, Art is everywhere.

It takes creative insight, the Artist, to excavate that which society has covered over; to point to the beauty ignored because of mass repetition. In a world where Industry is on the decline we need Artists more than ever, to open our eyes to the beauty that has been there all along; to point out for others what has always been present.

Wherever you find yourself today may you be aware of the Art that surrounds you and may you point it out for the benefit of others.

Letting Go of "Supposed To"

There is nothing that kills imagination and creativity quicker than the phrase, “Supposed to”.

“Supposed to” limits one’s possibility to that which has already been done. “Supposed to” may make one relevant but it never gives way to the unique creative genius.

“Supposed to” is attractive…it shows us the way, but this is precisely the problem. If the way is easy and can be shown so simply then there is a good chance no new thing will be discovered.

“Supposed to” is for those who want to fall in line, do as they’re told, and live a nice happy life. “Suppose to” doesn’t ask that much of you, just the status quo really. It doesn’t require you to think or to dream; and it certainly doesn’t rock the boat.

And while you are doing what you are “Supposed to” there are others doing what hasn’t been done, doing what they were told shouldn’t be done, or even more: what couldn’t be done. It is those who leave the confines of “Supposed to” that find their soul in the middle of a chorus…singing life out loud.

Living life outside of the “Supposed to” doesn’t mean that life is up for grabs; there are indeed some things we should be about. We should be generous, kind, and supportive of others. We should be encourages of children and our word should stand by exactly what it says.

Life free from the “Supposed to” doesn’t mean that we live life outside of the box, but rather that we dance along its edges. It means that when we go to work, school, or manage the household we will take care of more than our responsibilities…and not because they are a “have to”, but rather because they are an opportunity. An opportunity to do more than the minimum of the “supposed to” but to offer the fullness of our unique self to others.

May you live a life fare away from the demands of the supposed to and learn to live from the unique self God has placed within you.

The Thin Line Between Creative and Crazy (pt. 3)

"Songwriting is about getting the demon out of me. It's like being possessed. You try to sleep, but the song won't let you. So you have to get up and make it into something, and then you're allowed to sleep. It's always in the middle of the bloody night, or when you're half awake or tired, when your critical faculties are switched off. So letting go is what the whole game is."

- John Lennon

The Thin Line Between Creative and Crazy (pt. 1)

"Many people hear voices when no one is there. Some of them are called 'mad' and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called 'writers' and they do pretty much the same thing." - Meg Chittenden

Toys "R" Us and Church Relevance

Just last week Toys "R" Us announced that they would be adding a new element to their stores by introducing "R" Market in 260 of the company's 585 stories. "R Market" brings in an assortment of household goods and consumables (snacks, mac 'n cheese, paper towels, windex, etc.).

Toys "R" Us execs see this as a necessary move to keep business afloat and profitable in an economy where "want items" (like toys) are scarcely being purchased. Others think that the toy company giant should stick to what they do best...selling toys (for more on this story see the recent article in TIME).

Regardless of what you think Toys "R" Us should do, Geoffery and his associates are feeling the economic pain and are looking for ways to stay relevant, causing them to venture out in areas that have nothing to do with toys.

Churches have done this too. Churches and worship services have curtailed their structure, style, even their theology to stay more accessible and marketable in an ever increasing "de-churched economy". While I am all for innovation and creativity when it comes to the people of God (it is important that we find ways to contextualize the Gospel) is there a point at which the pursuit of "relevance" leads us away from the pursuit of God?

In what ways have churches/worship services departed from their main focus in an effort to stay "competitive" in our world?

Is there a difference between ingenuity/creativity that honors God and gimmicks?

Has the pursuit of "relevance been helpful or harmful to the Church?