How to Create in Greater Freedom
Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

How to Create in Greater Freedom

Who or what do you turn to for validation in your creativity? Is it tied to industry approval, sales numbers, profitability, reviews, or perhaps something else?

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Don’t Wait for Validation
Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Don’t Wait for Validation

Are you an artist when you pick up a brush and start painting, sell your first work, or once your art's in a gallery? Is a writer an author only when their book is published?

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Artists on Auto-Pilot
Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Artists on Auto-Pilot

When we try to force our creativity into a predictable routine, the result is predictable creativity.

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The Noise of Nothingness
Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

The Noise of Nothingness

A big microphone doesn't signify a speaker has big ideas.

Loud doesn't make something worth listening to.

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Catching Big Ideas
Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Catching Big Ideas

The best ideas show up in the least expected moments. In the middle of the night, as we’re working out, during a long hot shower, or in the produce aisle at the grocery store.

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Train Others How to Treat You
Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Train Others How to Treat You

Being overly available at all times results in being overly exhausted at all times.

God has designed your soul to need regular times of restoration.

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Stuck in Survival Mode
Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Stuck in Survival Mode

In busy times, it’s easy to get stuck in permanent survival mode.

It’s not hard to see why. The world’s treadmill has sped up and is only getting faster.

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Nothing Affects Your Art More
Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Nothing Affects Your Art More

You really can’t create something that offers more imagination, love, or beauty than what flows from your heart. Storytellers, for instance, can’t tell a greater story than the one they are living.

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Summer Road Trip with God
Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Summer Road Trip with God

When’s the last time you pursued something new with God?

This summer is the perfect season to travel an unexplored road together.

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Haven’t Seen Anything Yet
Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Haven’t Seen Anything Yet

I take my two dogs on a mile-long walk almost every day. They’re big dogs—around 90 pounds each. So our treks are always filled with joy and adventure. 

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The Inevitable…Isn’t
Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

The Inevitable…Isn’t

We look at the world and see evil gaining ground in so many areas. The trajectory seems unstoppable and inevitable, so we begin to lose hope.

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Create in Chaos
Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Create in Chaos

We live in chaotic times. In the midst of the storms, it’s easy to put your creative dreams on hold and just hunker down.

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Make Yourself Irrelevant
Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Make Yourself Irrelevant

It’s a question you rarely hear.  How are you making yourself irrelevant?  I’m not referring to the boring areas of your life—but in the very places you’ve experienced acclaim.

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Why Jesus Told Stories
Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Why Jesus Told Stories

Why do you create? It’s a really important question. 

While there may be a million reasons, Jesus offers the best response.

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Imagination’s Unhelpful Side
Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Imagination’s Unhelpful Side

Creatives have incredibly robust imaginations. It’s a gift to see what could be before it is. To bring ideas to life through works of beauty and heart.  

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A Better Way to Create
Guest User Guest User

A Better Way to Create

Ever notice how most new movies, shows, and music lack any true creativity or imagination? It’s like they all come from the same giant factory. And from a spiritual perspective, perhaps they do. 

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