Is restoration a regular part of your creative process?

From my years as a publisher, speaker, and consultant to thousands of writers, I can tell you most creatives don’t make time for this.

How would you describe the state of your art? Is it thriving? Do you know its rhythm? What replenishes your creativity…or depletes it?

The Hero’s Journey refers to a story where a hero must move from the known into the unknown. The journey involves great challenges, a death and rebirth, and ultimately change or transformation.

The more you do, the more successful you’ll be.

That maxim seems true, but it’s actually a lie that erodes our identity and creativity.

The best creativity begins with what God stirs in our hearts. It is an invitation to intimately and actively pursue our gifting with the Creator.

So who needs your art? First of all, you do.

There’s amazing freedom in dismissing the illusion of a balanced life. Most days we can’t even balance our checkbooks, much less our family, work, finances, health, home, sports, rest, and creativity. It’s an overwhelming, never-ending, no-win game – like trying to keep ten plates spinning simultaneously.

The world can be hard on our dreams. What once seemed so likely, now feels partial at best. Our best-laid plans laid to rest, sacrificed for other more pressing needs.

It feels like such loss. Not just a loss of our dreams, but also of hope and heart.

Imagine if a consultant offered this guarantee:

Call anytime and I will answer. I will show you wondrous things you could never figure out on your own and reveal remarkable secrets of what’s yet to come. I can make the previously impossible…possible.

God longs for those who will come alongside Him and experience the active, unpredictable, intimate joy of riding together. Doing so requires us to stay close. Sometimes He’ll ride by our side. Other times, He leads the charge.