Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Creativity

Today is one of those days that I would love to get away and spend all day talking about the ideas running through my head and writing. I spent a little time this morning sorting through some of my thoughts and found it hard to put it aside and start working. I am realizing that there are some creative things that ignite my thoughts. Things like Rob Bell's new book "Drops Like Stars". Not so much that what he has to say is new to me, but the way the book is designed. The layout of it, the pictures, that so much of what is communicated is through these things. The art of the story. It is different from the other books I read. It isn't about talking so much as it is about communicating.

Makes me wonder how many ways we miss communicating to people on a Sunday morning. What if we stepped back and said let's start from scratch? Not tweaking what we do, but looking at it from a whole new perspective. How can we communicate in a new way? What we say isn't usually that new to people, but what if we did a better job of being creative in saying in? Don't know that I am very good at that a lot times, but I want to be. I don't want to settle for the way things have always been done. The reality is that what is creative and new today will be "tradition" in a few years. I get frustrated with people who are tied to tradition, but I need to hold on loosely to my new ideas for change because they may just become the tradition of tomorrow.

I have the desire to go to a museum, to look at photographs, to read, to have conversations that will challenge me and stretch my mind, to write, to go and take in the creativity that is all around me. What creativity inspires you?

1 comment:

Jamie said...

I get inspired mostly with images and moments and people when they're being real or human or when they're learning something. I enjoy following people through the process of learning, and I think there's something special even supernatural in the moment of learning. It's like a gift or a grace.

On the artistic side I get inspired with great pictures and great music and film and books. You're right about telling stories versus giving information. Information is important in the story but it's treated secondarily to the telling of the story. I enjoy reading well crafted words and phrases. One of the reason I dig the message version of the bible.