On Origins

“The sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing — to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all the beauty came from — my country, the place where I ought to have been born.”

On Friendship

“Friendship arises out of mere companionship when two or more of the companions discover that they have in common some insight or interest or even taste which the others do not share and which, till that moment, each believed to be his own unique treasure (or burden). The typical expression of opening Friendship would be something like, “What? You too? I thought I was the only one.”

On Being Made New

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of — throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

On Existence of God

“My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?”

On Freedom

“Of course God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way: apparently He thought it worth the risk.”

On Suffering

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

On Desire

“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

On Action

“Enough had been thought, and said, and felt, and imagined. It was about time that something should be done.”

On Using God

“But then again of course I know perfectly well that He can’t be used as a road. If you’re approaching Him not as the goal but as a road, not as the end but as a means, you’re not really approaching Him at all.”

On Stupid Questions

“Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable. How many hours are there in a mile? Is yellow square or round?”

If the trailer is any indication, this looks to be a fantastic documentary.

If you can’t view video, go here.

“Sometimes, you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.” {Miles Davis}

When you’re playing in the sandbox of creativity, you will admire other artists. Eventually, your admiration becomes observation as you study what they do and how they do it. You find yourself doing the same thing to see if you have that kind of talent and creative spark within you.  Before you know it, you’ve repainted a flea-market version of their masterpiece. When your eyes are opened to it, it’s deflating and you want to tap out.

Sound familiar?

If so, welcome to the world of art. You’ve just taken a step forward in your orientation.

This phase of a creative’s development is not arbitrary, it’s part of the learning process-and it’s normal. What’s a shame is how discouragement derails so many artists and tempts them to stop creating. All because they believe they’ll never be as good as someone else.

Here’s the deal: It’s true. You never will create a better version of the Mona Lisa. Why? Not because you lack talent, but because that’s not your masterpiece. It’s someone else’s. Yours has yet to emerge.

It will take time, hard work, and grit, but it’s there, just waiting for you to find your voice and bring it out.

No one in God’s creation can create what you will.  Why?

Because there’s no one like you.

You are an original.

Go and create likewise.

When developing characters for a story experts suggest you reveal them in three arenas of life:

(1) In Public
(2) In Person
(3) In Private

This provides a more well-rounded snapshot of who that character really is and helps your audience better connect with them.

Looking at ourselves in these three domains is beneficial to us as well.
If we want to get a better sense of who we are right now, it helps to reflect on it by honestly answering these questions:

(1) What am I like in front of other people (work, school, marketplace, etc.)?
(2) What am I like in my relationships?
(3) What am I like when no one is looking or around?

Create three columns on a sheet of paper and write down your responses.

Do they surprise you?

How large are the gaps between the arenas?

Do any of those gaps need closing?

There should be alignment throughout, but some differences are natural.

For instance, you may dance around in your whitey tighties at home, but that’s not an action to take in public.  However, if you find that you are really nice to people during the day and you come home and are cruel to your family, that’s something to work on. And if you dance around at home in your whitey tighties as a way to be cruel to your family, you’ve got even bigger issues, pal.

The point is, you are you wherever you are. If you’re not, you’ve got to be exhausted from playing so many parts. You don’t have to live that way anymore.

Instead, you can jump on the train of recovering hypocrites like me who have played the roles, put on our masks, and been different people. We still stumble from time to time, but we’re learning there’s a better story to live. One of authenticity and wholeness. Where we don’t have to pretend to be more or less than we really are.

Won’t you join us?