Filling In A Blank Canvas ~ Some Fantastically Helpful Thoughts On Creating

"Margaret says yes to every opportunity, and whenever possible she takes her friends along. In the last few years, she’s taught me to ignore inconvenience in the face of potential, which is how I found myself on a plane to New York." ~ M. Mason

I read this quote a few weeks back and loved how whimsically it summarized a push I, too, am feeling.
I mentioned before that I am joining a journey with a new group of kindred spirits. I am making some fun creative shifts in my daily teaching style. I recently had an invitation to contribute my work to an anthology that is out of my comfort zone. I have this feeling ... all around the edges ... that there is a big, blank canvas of opportunity right now in front of me. Daily.

And I want to be intentional how I colour it in. 

As I look at my palette and I am ruminating about kindness, children, writing and all the fears, questions and challenges that come with along with them, I keep coming back to this article. (It is so worth reading even though it's quite long. I am going to read it again as a luxury with a cup of tea, because the thoughts in it feel just like that: indulgent and so, so valuable.)

" ... In his 2003 book, Timeless Beauty: In the Arts and Everyday Life, British author John Lane writes about the loss of the appreciation for beauty in the modern world. The experiment at L'Enfant Plaza may be symptomatic of that, he said -- not because people didn't have the capacity to understand beauty, but because it was irrelevant to them.

"This is about having the wrong priorities," Lane said.

If we can't take the time out of our lives to stay a moment and listen to one of the best musicians on Earth play some of the best music ever written; if the surge of modern life so overpowers us that we are deaf and blind to something like that -- then what else are we missing? "

These are some links I have been collecting that have challenged me not to miss out on what we are being given every day:

I was very inspired by Tsh Oxenreider's quote here, the whole article is full of gems: 

"The main thing I see people doing that detracts from their happiness (including my own) is trying to be someone they weren't made to be. It really is just so much easier to be who you are. It's an insult to God's creativity, really, to try and be someone else. And it's no fun."

I was so inspired by L. L. Barkat's viewpoint on creating listening and space to do that here.

I was challenged by Donald Miller here on the fears and risk-taking that he nails:
"Sooner or later, though, we have to create. We have to go and make something with the collected likes and dislikes we’ve assembled, we have to turn them into stories and songs, into families and gardens, into companies and churches." 

I was truly helped by Renee's ideas on anchoring here.:
"Anchoring helps you turn ideas into concrete actions."

I love Jess' words and the quote on her page here:
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" ~ Mary Oliver


For me stopping, listening, not filling space and time with words, activities, even beautiful ones - can feel lonely sometimes. My jobs are solitary. They can be full of alone. But alone with a lot of noise. As I am thinking and preparing for a season of Thanksgiving and Advent this year I want to allow there to be space, quiet, opportunity. Opportunity to hear, observe, experience, think and allow. That is hard with young children, it means sacrificing things that bring me (temporary) comfort. But, in the long run, may bring us all more. 

What is this life if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare.

-- from "Leisure," by W.H. Davies