It’s that time again for my yearly naming post. This is my 8th year of doing this tradition (click here to read last year’s “year of remembering.”) This year I’ve decided to name my year, The Year of the Artist’s Rhythm.
If you met me today and asked me what I loved to do, invariably one of the first things I would say would be, “I love to write.” Because I do. But then, there’s so much more to me than that. You see, I have more creative desires than I can adequately describe in one small talk conversation. And if you know me well, then you know this.
It dawned on me the other day that I am not just a writer. I love to write, but I also love to watercolor and be a mother and handletter and take photographs and play the piano and compose music and do creative holiday traditions and plan memorable family vacations and make family home movies and teach and design things and decorate and bake (usually) and sew (sometimes) and garden (I’m learning) and knit (not yet but I will learn). There’s probably even a few things I forgot to list! The point is, I’m not just a writer. With all of these creative desires stirred up and mixed together in my little heart, I am an artist. And so are you.
Even if you feel like you aren’t that creative or crafty, you are still an artist. Because an artist is simply an instrument in the Lord’s hands–one who shines the goodness or glory of God here on earth. In whatever shape or form your “artwork” presents itself, you have to believe that it is beautiful. And it is needed in this world. Because no one else is exactly like you. The world needs your unique and varied gifts. The world needs your light.
So this year, I’m living as an artist. Yes, I’ve added a few things into my daily routine that will allow more creative expression, but more importantly, I’m changing the way I see myself. I’m trusting the Divine Creator is working through me to accomplish some small work. And if I follow the daily “artist’s rhythm” He is showing me, then maybe I can create a masterpiece with His help.
Will you join me?
This year, I am starting my book. Well, technically I started it last fall, but this is the year I am committed to actually putting in some quality writing time during the tiny breaks I have as a homeschool mother. I don’t have any deadlines or lofty goals of plowing through and finishing it this year, for it might take me quite some time. But the journey has to start–even if it’s in the smallest and simplest of ways…
Do you have a project or a dream that’s been lying dormant in your heart for quite some time? Maybe this is the year you could take it off the shelf, dust it off, and follow the path where it leads. I promise to provide you encouragement along the way so watch for my posts entitled #ArtistsArise. Together, let’s become the artists, the instruments being led by the hands of the Perfect Conductor. With your melody on the flute, and mine on the piano, and all the rest of the instruments playing their respective harmonies, we could become one mighty fine symphony…
