I’m interested in the idea of following energy. Though I tend to be a planner and enjoy sticking to the plan, I’m debating as an artist, if sometimes it is worth it to go, instead, to where there is energy. If I’m feeling energetic about blogging, why not spend my time writing blog posts? If my novel is calling to me, why not rest on blog writing for awhile and pay attention to the novel? If I’m feeling the beginnings of a new short story inside of me, why not go with it? Sometimes, in art, it might be more worth our while to follow our creative energy, even if it means stopping one project and starting another. We honor our time set aside to create, but we may alter what it is exactly we’re creating.
It’s hard for me to even write this because it goes against every grain within me. The red flags go up – what if you just become a starter then and never a finisher? I know. I know that risk is real. But I also know there have been times I have failed to write at all because I didn’t want to work on the novel I was telling myself I had to work on. Isn’t it better to create something then to create nothing? Or maybe I work on the novel and it is painful and empty and going nowhere. Why push through such torment when maybe tomorrow I really will have a renewed passion for it and the words will flow freely again?
If this is true, then this must mean that trusting God as the source in the creative process is believing that He will shift my energies as necessary. He will give passion for a task as the passion is needed.
Oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength! – Ephesians 1:19
Maybe we have to start a new painting before the finishing touches of that other painting will come to us. Maybe something in our life needs to transpire before the ending of that poem can be written. Maybe we are a lot less in control of our creativity then we’d like to believe, and maybe, that’s okay. Maybe the better goal is maintaining joy in the midst of creating, whether in the finishing, in the beginning, or in the being lost somewhere in the middle.
{ 1 trackback }