Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Paranoia Will Destroy You

When we have an original idea, we often hesitate to share it until we can make it first. After all, what if someone steals it and all our efforts are lost?

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Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Don't Avoid the Supernatural

George Orwell and C. S. Lewis have such different—and definitive—worldviews. Orwell is the author of 1984 and Animal Farm, while Lewis wrote Mere Christianity and The Chronicles of Narnia series. Can you imagine either wandering through the other’s created universes? How would they have reacted? 

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Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

God Isn't Preachy

As we create in trueness and avoid the dangers of indoctrination, it’s essential we don’t water down our creativity out of a fear of being “preachy.”

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Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Bent Creations

As we create with God, our goal isn’t to force a heavy-handed message on others. That’s indoctrination—not creativity.

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Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

On Auto-Repeat

When we find something that works for us, we want it to continue.

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Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

The Benefit of Boredom

During an interview, best-selling author Neil Gaiman was asked where his ideas come from. He responded…

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Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Risk is Required

The desire for a good, safe life is alluring. But are those traits the hallmark of epic biblical stories…or the stories from Hallmark movies?

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Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Conditional Creators

When God invites us to create, we have a choice. We can say yes and create it with God. Or we can be conditional creators, proceeding only if perceived limits are first removed.

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Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Are You Replaceable?

There’s a growing concern among many that generative AI will soon be able to duplicate, if not exceed, our creativity. It can certainly compile things faster than us. But can it also create better than us? And if so, what happens then?

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Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Authentic Only

It’s always better to propose a solution rather than just oppose a problem.

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Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

nAIve

So many creative people have ceded a part of their skill and confidence to AI. This is a self-inflicted glitch that will only grow worse over time.

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Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Don’t Be Split in Two

It’s one thing to love what we do. It’s another to look to it for our validation and salvation. That’s really what an idol is—anything we look to for life or success.

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Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

The Goal of De-Creation

Just as God is an intentional Creator, the enemy is an intentional de-creator who comes at our creativity in a uniquely destructive way.

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Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

What Restores You?

A good gauge of whether we’re pursuing our creativity from our own strength or with God is whether we’re mostly expectant…or exhausted.

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Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Exhilarating & Exhausting

We’ve talked a lot about our creativity. But there’s an aspect of it that deserves more attention—creative exhaustion.

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Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

Who Is Your Competition?

Comparison is toxic.

When we compare our achievements or pursuits to others or even to us in another season, it either deflates our hearts (mine isn’t as good) or inflates our ego (mine is best).

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Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

What Introverts Must Avoid

Isolation is one of the main areas we can get stuck. So I want to offer a few more thoughts before moving on to the next category.

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Amanda Dykes Amanda Dykes

All Great Creations Have This

In Genesis 1, we see the Creator in his glory. So much happens in these first six movements of creation. The first thing to note is that God didn’t create alone.

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