Awake and creative,
Nearly three quarters of our way through this 40 day journey.
There's a musician named Drew Holcomb,
I've listened to some things he's had to say recently in an interview because I get to go to a concert and I wanted to learn more about what he's all about.
I find this helps me appreciate what I listen to,
How I perceive it,
To hear the story behind the stories.
He said he went through about a five year drought of faith.
Now the majority of what he was referring to was a Christian faith and I identify with that,
But not entirely.
It was more human,
Humanity centered,
Mine,
But what grabbed me was the five years,
Because that's been mine as well.
I don't know if that can be considered a benchmark that we go through five years.
I seriously doubt it,
But consciously.
It began in 2019 and here I am in 2025,
Feeling as if I've reached a finish line on a long journey.
And yet every finish line is a start,
So here I am at the beginning.
It brought me to another somebody I've been reading about and learning about recently.
Daniel Berrigan lived his journey as a peacemaker.
His greatest goal was nonviolence,
Not as a pacifist,
But an active peacemaker.
He could often be found praying in earnest,
Working earnestly towards this goal of peace,
Yet knowing at the same time it was somewhat futile.
He said peacemaking goes nowhere,
And yet it must be done.
For whatever reason,
When I read that quote not long ago,
It turned light bulbs on.
It hit my soul.
And it caused me to drop so much of what I spoke about yesterday,
The contrivances,
Layers of contrivance that I'd created,
Let alone let in,
Around creativity.
The contrivances and layers of stories I'd told myself of why they didn't matter,
Or they weren't enough,
Or it wasn't a real something.
As much as I have this impassioned,
Abstracted self who thrives in the wonder of creating something from nothing,
I also have a very practical side that wants that list of boxes to check,
An organization to work through,
Everything in its place,
And a proper design to the world.
You'd think that this abstracted,
Creative self would be in conflict with this practical,
Organized,
Purpose self.
Yet I've learned part of this process for the last five years of,
Oh wow,
What do we call it,
Coming back to a better version of myself,
Stripping away all those contrivances so that I have that core once again,
And see the value as I begin holding it and journeying forward again.
Do I simply call it truth?
That suggests I was living under layers of lies,
And that is and isn't true.
Contrivances,
I suppose,
As I've used it,
Is a better choice of word.
Regardless,
As Daniel Berrigan said,
For him,
Peacemaking,
For me,
Beauty making,
Creativity,
Creating space for more people to drop the layers,
Expose the pure core,
This may never come to be a pure and whole creation,
But it is worth fighting for.
It is worth designing a life around,
And it is worth walking through the desert to discover it still exists and its importance is huge.
Wake up,
Awaken creative,
You may not change the world with one painting,
But one painting could change the world,
Keep going.
