Welcome To My Blog

Steve Taylor heard I was writing about creativity and sent me an e-mail with some advice he’d received. The advice was simple: 1. A creator loves what they do. 2. A creator knows how to do what they do. 3. A creator does what they do. You’re probably thinking “duh” right? But when I apply this to my life, there is value. 1. I fell in love with writing during high school. I wrote an article for the youth group newsletter and received positive feedback and that was it. My love affair with words began. It was my new identity, and that impure motive, perhaps, turned into a genuine appreciation for the written word. I’ve not stopped thinking about how to phrase ideas since. A love for the art is important, because without it, you won’t pull through. If you want to the identity of a rock star, good luck. If you love music, you may get the identity but hopefully you won’t care. You and your love will just make great music and enjoy life. 2. Malcolm Gladwell points out that the average “genius” is no genius at all, but has spent ten-thousand hours honing their craft. Steinbeck’s early [...]

Ever wonder why the manmade world is getting uglier? They are going to build a bridge in my neighborhood to span the Wilamette. There are proposed pictures floating around on flyers and we are to log on to such and such a website and voice our opinions. They are all bad, in my opinion. They are all very functional and they will work well to flow traffic. But none of them are attractive. The ancient cathedrals, indeed, the ancient bridges and government buildings, the ancient piazza’s were extensions of the city, were the clothes the city wore on a day designed to impress. These monuments were also extensions of their creators. Michelangelo and Da Vinci were sought after to create buildings and bridges both. A great creator does not see his work as something apart from himself. What the creator makes is a statement about the creator, and a manifestation of their sensibilities, which is one with their experiences. Our modern buildings, our strip malls and stripped down buildings say of our culture we are one with efficiency, with selling goods and services. Was God being efficient when he created a woman, or was He being extravagant? Is a cloud [...]