Hey Amanda,

May 19th, 2008

This is a posted response to Amanda’s question about an exercise prescribed in The Artists Way. Because of its length, I posted it here. All you artists, join the conversation if you feel inclined.

I have really enjoyed working through this book even though it isn’t written with a Christian perspective (even though JC believes in God) I have grown immensely through it. With many things, I choose to take the meat and spit out the bones and her book is no exception. I believe God is speaking out in all manner of art and literature, and using all sorts of things to call people back to him. Expressing yourself through creativity is, I believe, an essential part of a Christian’s formation into Christ likeness. So I say all of that to say, I think that this exercise is a both/and sort of thing. If you need it, do it, and in the process Jesus will speak to you healing and affirming words.

Someone with a Christian perspective, that allows Jesus to be their center and their compass, are able to come to this exercise with that grid and really gain a ton from it, while keeping it in the right perspective. I think, it is generally true, that people have a very hard time really grasping who they are in Christ. Because of emotional and often traumatic, early child hood experience, people are ether overly codependent or obsessively people pleasing as adults. Driven by need for approval and love or fearful of rejection and isolation, people don’t understand how precious they are and rarely set healthy boundaries in that direction. We rarely take time for ourselves, over extending and over committing as a way of being “there” for others, without ever realizing that if we haven’t really come to grasp who we are as beautiful creations ourselves, we can’t ever really be who we are supposed to be for others. All of these are little clues that ultimately signal that we like to be in control…of ourselves and others.

Recently, I have been in a season of understanding who I am and that taking care of myself really allows me to be open to what God is doing and saying to me. I like to call it soul care, others say having good boundaries. It is really a spiritual practice. I know deeply at my core, that the more I can be present to the process that God has me in( and not in others process), it allows me to stay weak or humble before what God is doing and what he is calling me to do and be for the sake of the world. I am not the source of anything, even my own healing and artistic process. It is all an outflow of my relationship with the Father, and He is the source of all of my healing and my creativity.

I had a few issues with her language, so I didn’t plug into it in the way she prescribed. Although if I were in a different place, doing it may have been helpful, I just didn’t feel like it was helpful for me at this point. I, however, do have a deep awareness that the more I am aware of where I am at in my own formation or treating myself as “precious” in her language (which takes time and intentionality) the more I am able to be present to the Father which is a weak and humble place. Ironically, as Christians, the weaker we are (which really means we know we are not in control) the stronger and more healthy we become.

So those are my lengthy 2 cents. I am interested to hear your thoughts!

Grace and Peace to you,
Amber

Entry Filed under: The Arts