Posts
The Gift and the Curse of the Artist’s Life
Mar 19, 2021
Sometimes the words don’t come. They stubbornly refuse to show up and be tied down. Perhaps they have better places to be, other writers to visit for the day. Even in the waiting, the silence, I have to trust the process. In the mundane act of holding still, there has to be a sense of conviction that no amount of stillness is ever wasted, if done with presence and purpose.
A Closer Look at Anger
What emotions have to teach us
Feb 15, 2021
Let’s talk about anger. It’s not an emotion I’m fond of, or can easily express. Rather, it’s one I try my darndest to suppress. Truth be told, it terrifies me. Anytime it wants to surface, I close the lid, reel it back in. Often, I just transform it into sadness. Aren’t they just two sides of the same coin?
The Barriers to Our Blooming
Lifting the weights that crush us
Jan 01, 2021
January 1st. It carries so much weight — both positively and negatively. It contains so much hope, and yet so much angst. Realistically, it’s just another day. But ideally, it can become so much more. A fresh start, a second chance, a new path forward, a do-over. We place so much expectation on this innocent day to deliver. We give it so much power. And so little room for error.
To Sit Quietly In A Room
Spiritual reflections on COVID-19
Mar 14, 2020
Even without stepping outside, I can feel the eerie quiet of the city. The dust is not even close to settling, but there is a feeling of culmination in the air. Of something ending, making way for a new type of living. If ever we were asked to take stock of our lives and all the precious things and people in them, it is now.
What Our Work Is Really About
Discovering our artistic subject
Jan 20, 2020
18° outside this Sunday evening. Slight headache. Trying to keep it at bay. Thinking about the chocolate chip cookie I’ll have a little later on. With milk. Candle lit on the kitchen counter. Dog is napping. Steven Pressfield’s book The Artist’s Journey sits next to me. In it he says that all artists have a “subject,” what he defines as thematic — “subject is deeper than topic.
I have nothing to say.
Thoughts on finding our message and the journey to get there
Jan 13, 2020
There are many self-defeating thoughts artists and creators have over the span of their art-making journey. This must be among the top two.
The Symbolism of the Resurrection
Finding renewal in lifeless places
May 01, 2019
Easter. The word conjures up themes of renewal and rebirth for me. A starting over. Not like starting a new year, but starting a new way of life, a re-envisioning of how one wants to show up in the world. This day gives me hope that what once was dead can come back to life. All the lifeless places within me get drenched with promise.
On Earth As It Is in Heaven
Attempting to create God’s vision in our everyday lives
Apr 17, 2019
“As it is in heaven.” This is the new sermon series that started at the church I attend in downtown Chicago, based on the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:10. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. The larger question weaved into the sermons is — how can we bring the kingdom of heaven down to earth, into our day-to-day lives?
The Unseen Battles We Fight
And other audacious measures of being human
Mar 26, 2019
What battle are you currently fighting that no one sees? I often have a version of this thought when walking around and someone passes me by. I’m curious about the struggles that person is going through. The troubles that keep them up at night. So much of our battles are hidden from others and go unseen, sometimes even from those closest to us.
Saying ‘No Thank You’ to Gratitude Practices
When popular spiritual practices just don’t work for you
Mar 19, 2019
I must confess something. It may come as a shock to some. Dare I say it out loud? Here goes… gratitude practices don’t work for me. In fact, I don’t even like them. There, I said it. Anything from gratitude lists, gratitude journaling, gratitude meditations, you name it, I’ve tried it. Repeatedly. Over an extended period of time. And it just doesn’t work for me.
The Ordinary Part of Extraordinary Pursuits
Every dream is full of mundane repetition
Mar 12, 2019
March. It may seem like an inconspicuous month, nicely tucked in-between February and April, trying not to draw attention to itself. But when it comes to New Year’s resolutions, it’s a rather important month. It’s that time when even the most well-meaning, dedicated of us trying to keep our resolutions going have slipped and fallen back into our old ways, or flat out given up.
Creating for Creating’s Sake
Would you keep making art if no one saw it?
Mar 05, 2019
I think the question all writers must ask themselves at some point in their writing journey is this: if no one read my work, would I still write? Would I still show up to the empty page and string words together for the mere pleasure of the act of writing itself? This defines the true artists from the ones doing it simply for profit, or fame, or some other external reward.
You’re Not That Special
Why this thought can liberate you
Feb 26, 2019
This is the thought I have in the Uber ride home from a workshop I attended out of curiosity. It came out of nowhere, seemingly, and yet, it felt like the missing puzzle piece I was struggling to find for so long. It was one of those rare thoughts you have once in a blue moon that hits you like a brick, penetrating to the core of something you’ve been struggling with and haven’t been able to find the answer to.
Surprising Lessons From My First Winter in Chicago
Feb 19, 2019
Cold. That’s really the only thing I ever thought of when thinking about Chicago. The only thing that came to mind when I pictured the winters. Freezing may be more accurate. When it comes to certain states and their corresponding weather, we tend to have pretty well-established preconceived notions and judgments.
The Hidden Gifts of Our Dispositions
And their potential for our personal growth
Feb 12, 2019
Prone to melancholy. That’s how the pastor described the personality type #4 that I most relate to on the Enneagram. It’s a new sermon series the church started in which they teach on this ancient and insightful tool for self-awareness. My personality type — the “Individualist” — is sensitive, introspective, and self-aware, among other things.
The Sifting of Soul Work
Listening to the stirrings from within
Feb 05, 2019
I’ll be honest. I don’t feel like writing right now. Or doing much of anything, let alone try and be creative. But I committed to writing at least once a week. So I’m here, showing up, despite my inner refusal. I don’t want my art to suffer for the sake of my comfort, or how I feel in this particular moment.
Looking for Meaning Everywhere
Thoughts on our search for meaning
Jan 29, 2019
My dad turned 73 this week. As a birthday gift, I sent him Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning. He’s a reader so I figured he’d enjoy this. It’s a haunting read, but hopeful. The book is Frankl’s memoir of his experience in the Nazi concentration camps, where his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished.
The Battle of Creative Resistance
Why it’s so hard to show up for your art
Jan 22, 2019
Let’s talk about resistance. Not the kind at the gym, but the creative type that artists all over the world experience and suffer through when initially faced with their calling to create. The one Steven Pressfield talks endlessly about in his writings. Let’s tackle that beast. Because it’s not talked about enough.
What Do You Need to Release in the New Year?
Thoughts on letting go of what no longer serves us
Jan 15, 2019
The sun is setting on this Sunday afternoon. It will come back, I have to reassure myself, with the looming darkness. The sky, shades of buttermilk and saffron. Kids below in the park, making snow angels before the snow melts, as it will. The passing of January, taking place right before my eyes, in spurts of moments and people flitting to-and-fro.
What It Means to Live Our “Best Life”
Jan 09, 2019
The thing they don’t tell you about “living your best life” is that it takes time to get there. And that it has to be YOUR best life, not a cookie-cutter version of someone else’s. We live in a time of “comparison fatigue,” the mental and emotional exhaustion that comes from constantly comparing ourselves — our stuff, our home, our bodies, our achievements, our travels — with those of others.