Prioritize Your Art

What are you working on today? 

Is it something that feeds your soul or is it a have-to-should-supposed-to-expectation-duty-obligatory-go-through-the-motions-check-list-task?

Yes, we all have things we are “supposed to do”; responsibilities that need fulfillment because others are waiting on us.  However, please don’t let this be your excuse from getting to your real work.

Every day you have an opportunity to creatively lean into that which brings you life.  You may need to change your day’s schedule so your art becomes a greater priority, you may need to change your attitude so you stop blaming others for your lack of production, or you may need to change your expectations of creativity so you can find beauty in what you are already doing.

We are all busy people with expectations too long to list.  The difference between the artist and the amateur is that the artist makes a way for their art to come alive.

Creative Incarceration

I hope you’re not waiting for permission or approval for your creative expression.  If so, pull up a chair and get comfortable.  If the artist within you is waiting for someone else to let them out then the only thing you can count on is a life-sentence of creative incarceration.

You can blame the creative hold-up on other people’s bureaucracy and “lack of vision”, but really, it’s just your fear that’s keeping you back.

The Brickyard

I’m not sure what kind of work you are in.  Maybe you are a school teacher, marketing exec, contract laborer, professional athlete or stay-at-home parent.  Regardless of vocation we all experience the trappings of the Brickyard.

The Brickyard is the monotonous place of production without realization or gratification.  The Brickyard is focused on maintaining the status quo for sake of the bottom line.  There is no need to be creative within the Brickyard for our role is already laid out, planned, and neatly organized (no need for free-thinking beings in the highly regulated brickyard).  The Brickyard gives the allure of safety but steals our individual identity.  Demands and quotas are the only incentives in the Brickyard. 

In the Brickyard, industry thrives at the expense of our humanness.

The myth of the Brickyard is that if we work hard enough, complete the latest project, or do as we are told it will finally pay off.  Yet it never does.  There are always more bricks to make and more walls to construct.

Walter Brueggemann writes, “the brickyard is a place of hopelessness.  Not only must we produce for the others, but there is no prospect, not in our wildest imagination, that things are ever going to change.  There will never be enough bricks to meet the quota”.

Sadness and despair set in where we lose our creative imagination for what life may bring.  Life is viewed as “the daily grind” - something we try to get through and survive, rather than a gift that is anticipated and received.

Stepping outside of the Brickyard takes courage and faith.  Courage to stand up against the managers and systems that relish in holding to the company line and faith, that when reach out in trust, the Divine reaches back.  The choice for you and I is simple:  choose between those who say, “Make more bricks” or the God who says, “Let my people go”.

Talking Dog

What's not to like about the dog?

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

"Release"

"Release", water color, 2.5 x 3 ft. The breaking of darkness and the dawning of light.

Lilly's Construction

I'm going to be honest right out of the gate on this one...I have absolutely no idea what this is. Well yes, I know...it is a combination of tooth picks, styrofoam packaging, and coffee cups. However I don't have a clue as to what they now form.

Each individual piece serves (or "served") a purpose, but I'm not sure just what purpose this "structure" serves. Even more, what are you supposed to do with it?

My 6 year old daughter Lilly is the head designer and chief architect behind this project so I figured that at least she could answer my questions...

Nope.

Lilly doesn't have any idea what this is "supposed to be" or what it is "supposed to do". Further, not "knowing" what it "is" or what it "does" doesn't really bother her. She simply appreciates it because she made it and it is hers.

Lilly's construction reminds me that the value of beauty and art cannot be measured by pragmatic functionality. It is beautiful, creative, and inspiring simply because it is.

When I look at my life, with a scrutinizing pragmatic stare, and wonder just exactly what I'm supposed to "be" and "do" (so that I can measure my worth), I need reminders that my beauty and value as a human being is not measured by mere definitive functionality, but because I am the worksmanship of the master Artisan.

Voodoo Doughnuts

I love a good doughnut. I must admit that it is a vice of mine. My favorite doughnut is a Strawberry Frosted from Dunkin Donuts. Sadly, Dunkin has gone the way of the dinosaur here in Western Michigan, so I don't have much opportunity to indulge in my favorite pastry. On a recent trip to Portland, Misty and I stopped at a local favorite: Voodoo Donuts.

Located downtown on 3rd street, Voodoo is known for their tasty and unusual donuts. Taking me back to my childhood breakfasts I had a Coco Puff (chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and Coco Puffs) and a Loop (vanilla frosted with Fruit Loops). Misty was a bit more adventurous, she had the Mexican Hot Chocolate (chocolate cake doughnut rolled in cinnamon and cayenne pepper). Although tempting, I did not try the Syrup 'n Bacon (maple frosted long-jon with 2 strips of bacon...don't you love it when your bacon gets all syrupy from your pancakes?).

While Voodoo did not invent the doughnut, they certainly have helped "refresh" it in ways that make this treat "new" all over again. At Voodoo their creativity takes them to new places. It is their freedom to create along with their willingness to experiment that makes Voodoo Doughnuts a place for originality.

Check out the video, and if that makes you want more, then the next time you are in Portland be sure you swing in.

Do you have a favorite doughnut or pastry? Where's the best place to go?

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?