Conspiracy of Encouragement

Beauty Unexpected

Walking our dog in the woods this morning...a gray...drizzly...mosquito clad...unpleasant experience... We came out of the woods into a large meadow maybe a couple of acres in size. Not only is the path wet but the tall grasses on either side are so wet that they're slapping my pant legs and getting me soggy. I'm glad he's having a good run soooo a little wet, I'll manage.

As we're walking, I pause and look across the meadow the long grass blowing in the light rain and wind. And there walking majestically is a deer. Tall, beautiful, fluid in motion...amazing! The dog hasn't noticed (not so much a hunter our boy) and so after watching the deer for a minute or so I continue on following him.

I look ahead on the trail through the meadow. I'm thinking it's good he didn't see that deer. Not sure at 10 months if he'd take off after it. But then I look ahead there's 3 more deer! As we near they see us and unconcerned continue to graze. We come within 20 feet and then they move off to maybe 20 yards away. We stand and look at them. Beautiful. They stand and look at us. Wet and awestruck, even my dog is gazing (awestruck I suppose). He doesn't give chase.

We continue on our walk and I look back to see them , still there, unconcerned, beautiful.

As I round the trail -- more deer! Two here, two more there to the right. I thought the first one was beautiful but we're up to 8 now. Amazing, beautiful, unexpected.

Beauty comes unexpected as we travel through our days, wet, tired, busy, distracted, however you find yourself. I lift my head beyond the track in front of me and see beauty that God shows. 

Inspiring Quote for Your Week

"Live creatively, friends...Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourselves into that. Don't live vicariously. Each of us must take responsibility for doing the creative best we can with our own lives."            Eugene Peterson

 

Change, oh no!

As we enter the new month of May, let's steer our creative thoughts to change. I love change, sometimes. Other times not so much. 

Change can mean things like editing. It's been said that good writing is good editing. Change means evaluating, revamping, an about-face, listening to someone else's idea, realizing my brilliant idea wasn't brilliant at all. One of the toughest things in creativity for a hard headed person like me is changing plans. I get my mind set a certain way and that's the track I follow.

But think of driving your car. It comes with a steering wheel so you can constantly adjust for change in direction including turns, swerving (not randomly I hope), avoiding potholes or roadkill and looking for the best route. If all you had to do was point a car in one direction it would be boring. When I first got my drivers' license, I looked forward to changing directions and quickly!

But to be creative we need to be willing to change directions, plans, tactics, to think differently and not be trapped by initial plans. There's joy in finding a better way to do something. Creativity at it's core is not getting stuck in a rut, not clinging to the status quo...changing. 

There’s a story of a little boy walking to baseball diamond with his bat and ball. He strides to the plate. Confidently says, “I am the greatest hitter in the world.”

He tosses the ball up, swings and misses.

He picks up the ball and says again,  “I am the greatest hitter in the world.” 

He tosses the ball up, swings and misses.

He picks up the ball and says again, “I am the greatest hitter in the world.”

He tosses the ball up, swings and misses.

As he walks away from the plate he says, “I am the greatest pitcher in the world.”

Be willing to change plans. It’s part of creativity

I don't do that!

Another step in the journey into creativity, do something you don’t normally do

First requirement: Find something you don’t normally do

It could be because it’s something outside your comfort zone, or that it’s something you like to do but don't allow yourself to do, or something you’ve never tried, or something you don’t know how to do, or something you fear people will laugh at you for doing or…(you fill in the last one)

You might take a class to try your new thing. Don't be afraid to learn something new. Some of it will take and some not.

In my life so far I've taken training in or on, cartooning, juggling, driving, writing, tap dancing (I love Fred Astaire but sadly this isn't for me), prayer, mime, typing, creativity, swimming, dynamic communication, healthy eating,  wood working (with my 5 year old daughter, we made a bird house and a napkin holder), piano, guitar, mandolin, violin, tuba (took 5  instruments before I realized I'm not musical)

Worth noting that despite my lack of musical talent, in my third year of playing violin I went from the worst in the orchestra to first violin! My teacher actually held me up as an example to the other members. She said something like, "Look at Jim, he was the worst violin we had and he's worked hard and now look at how well he's doing!" 
"Thanks, I think."

 Or there's so many other ways to do something new. You could…

Write a poem

Draw a picture

Dance

Be outgoing

Be quiet

Run

Hug someone (preferably not a total stranger, there are laws against that sort of thing)

Pray out loud (even if you’re alone it’s cool)

Sing a song

Cook something for someone else

Do a cleaning chore someone else usually does in your house

Stay up late

Walk instead of driving the car

Write a story

Get up early

Wear a different style of clothes

Don’t clean something you always clean (within limits of disgustingness, of course)

Hum something

Second Requirement: Do it, go on, it’s worth it. There is power, energy, release, prayer,  discovery, in doing something you don’t normally do.

Originality is anxiously awaiting  you doing something you don’t normally do. That makes it original. You doing it your way. Newness is good. Not without limits but still good.

 

Work with me!

Collaboration. Working with someone. Not just telling someone what to do but actually working together on something.

Your gifts, talents and risks + their gifts, talents and risks.

My daughter Breanne just sang a song tonight at a youth talent show. She collaborated with one of her best friends to write it. It was a great song. People loved it. I didn't get to hear it until later in the car on the way home. (you know how it is, too shy to premiere it for dad or mom) 

But it was a great song. I'm proud of her not just for writing and singing but also because she collaborated with her friend, Emma. That's tough sometimes. Taking a risk with someone else. What if they don't get your thing or you mess up their thing. What if you fight? Arrrgh. Conflict makes me shiver.

Taking a risk, trying something new and working with someone else on it. Cool. Scarey. Dangerous. Risky. Adventurous. "out there". 

Think of some great collaborations...

Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers

Paul Newman and Robert Redford

Jim Henson and Frank Oz (almost said Kermit the Frog, Frank Oz was smarter)

Laurel and Hardy

Peanut Butter and Jam

Who could you collaborate with on something creative?

Who could you let your uniqueness work with their uniqueness and make something that couldn't happen with only one of you?

Creativity Month - April 2011 - Collaborate

"We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them." - Albert Einstein

Albert's right. We need to be creative. To come up with new ways of looking at things. It's not just solving problems it's about living life fully. 

We need to get beyond experience into experimental territory! And the cool thing about an experiment is that if you fail it's not the end it's a new beginning. Try something else.

Creativity isn't tame, practiced or status quo. Use your creative ideas. Unleash yourself into new ways. 

April is creative month on conspiracyofencouragement.com so go for it!

Do something in a way you've never done before. Try a new skill or talent that you think you might have. It could change everything. 

Always wanted to write, paint, sing, dance, philosophize, invent, encourage, craft, build, modify...or?  Whatever you've always wanted to try, go for it.

 

 

Creative You, (yes really)

I talk to a lot of people, groups of people, classes of people, people of all ages and stages, collections of people, clusters and gaggles of people who say they are not creative. They say it as a given.

"Ohh, I'm not creative."

They are people who enjoy seeing art, movies, plays, creative approaches to life, songs that are played, sung or danced and the oft sought thinking outside the box (which is said so often that surely the box must have been broken and recycled by now), But they think they can't go there except as a spectator. 

That's not true. But I'm not calling them liars. I'm calling liars all those people who have ever told them, "you're not talented, you're not  creative, you're just not artistic". That's the lie.

And that is the lie. It's the lie the devil tells people and they believe it and they spread it to others. (if you don't happen to believe in the devil, just go with me on this. We can talk about that another day) I call it the lie because it denies the work of God and that's the devil's one real lie. Deny deny deny that God is or that God said or  that God loves. The devil is the liar, the deceiver, the corruptor who tries to come between us and God.

Jesus came to reunite us to God and to bring us to life in the light of God. Look at Jesus' words in John 10:10 in the version called THE MESSAGE by Eugene Peterson:

 I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

Jesus calls us back to God to the life we're supposed to be living, a God connected life. We settle for less but God says you are special to Him, He loves you and you are creative. Why do I know you are creative?

Because God is the one who who made us in His image. As it says in Genesis 1:27

So God created human beings in his own image.
      In the image of God he created them;
      male and female he created them.

And He is creative to the most and highest!  So if we're made in His image, we are by default creative. You could point in the mirror at a human being version 1.0 who is creative. God is creative, we're made in his image and so we are creative.

Oh, you may not have a particular talent like singing or painting but that  doesn't mean you're not creative or talented or artistic in other ways. But your creativity can leap, ooze, leak, dream and dance it's way out in so many ways. Whatever you do can be done creatively. Here's some creativity leading questions...

*What do you do that others don't?

*How do you approach a problem or an issue at work?

*Where are you right now? (yes, check) What do you do creative right here? Don't minimize, there are creative opportunities in every place, moment, situation.

*What talent do you have that you have neglected?

*What creative thing have you always wanted to do but others or fear or failure or judgment has held you back?

Here's my challenge for the month of April for you. We start off April with a day for April Fools so this month take a chance and try something creative.

Do it big or do it small but do it. I am going to post encouragement notes to you all this month to be creative, artistic, out of that box, and really 'image of God' YOU.

Here's an example of encouragement. Marketing by companies is boring. Commercials are boring. Junk mail and spam are boring.

Encouragement #1: I like what this company in the Netherlands has done on their store website. The store is called Hema and apparently there are 150 around the Netherlands. Just go to the link, don't click anything. Wait and see what happens. It's worth it.

Here's the link, http://producten.hema.nl/

Be creative, you've got it in you. And I'd love to hear what you try or do. 

 

 

Surprise!

Have you been surprised lately?

It's fun. If you haven't been surprised lately you're definitely due. 

That's one of the things I really enjoy about having children. They will surprise you in infinite ways. Sometimes joyfully, sometimes not so much.

Like right before you're heading out the door (running late of course) and need them to be ready to go and you discover they've painted their faces with marker and stripped off their clothes. Surprise!

Or there's the time you discover the puppy has dug a large crater in your backyard. You discover it in stages of course. 

Stage 1: "Why are there muddy pawprints on the carpet?"

Stage 2: "I wonder where he got so dirty?" And as you spy the crater, " Oh my!"

But really surprises are more often fun. Like today, my girls were visiting my sister and unbeknownst to her decorated her bedroom for her upcoming birthday. Decorated as only 3 little girls could. She says she's going to leave it up for awhile to enjoy!

Saw this commercial recently and it has made me laugh now several times. I love the surprise in it. Filled in for a friend teaching an early morning Bible College class this week and it made those sleepy students smile and laugh. Check it out.

  

I love the surprise reaction of this little guy. (And oh btw, it is a little boy, despite the many people on the web debating that it might be a little girl.)

So, why not spread some joyful surprise around this week. Think of someone around you who could use a fun surprise and make it happen for them. Come up with something they'll like, laugh at or enjoy. Even point them to this commercial on this blog if you want. Do it, it's worth it!

 

Arcade Fire wins Best Album Grammy...Tim wins a Grammy!

(I posted this a couple weeks back, right after the grammies, somehow it didn't work, so try try again)

If you don’t know, Arcade Fire is a band from Montreal. Tim’s in the band. I know Tim. Well, I knew Tim. He’s a good guy, haven’t seen him in years. 

But of course by saying, “Tim’s a good guy” then it seems that I KNOW him. It elevates me to a level of knowing, maybe even being friends with a Grammy winning musician. I don’t really know him that well. Oh, we did some stuff at our church a few times and he really was a good guy, probably still is. But it’s not like he calls me.

A lot of that happens when someone gets to being a celebrity of some sort. People get their fifteen minutes of fame and we want to tag along. We grab a little bit of the fame for ourselves. We say things like “I was his music teacher” or “I used to sit by him in third period chemistry” or “He bought my mandolin, (he did) maybe he used it on the Grammy winning album (doubtful)!”

Why? Is it because it’s an innocent fun thing…kind of a “Well what do you know about that, isn’t that cool!” Or are we desperate to be “somebody”. To be famous, to rise above other people. Is it a bad thing and are we trying to show how important we are?

I have come up with a list of what I call “brushed off by greatness”. Things where I have a thin, okay VERY thin connection to someone famous:

• My mom was James (Scotty from Star Trek) Doohan’s sister’s roommate when they were young nurses. He was a struggling young actor and used to borrow money from them. Ooooooh.

• When I was in grade 9, Catherine O’Hara (from SCTV, and many movies) was a senior. I used to have such a crush on her. Wow. Fascinating.

• When I did my first standup comedy at Yuk Yuk’s in Toronto, I stood up for the wrong introduction. I heard “Jim….” and thought it was for me. It was for Jim Carrey (movie star) who was also doing his first standup try. (“And our careers have pretty much gone the same…”)

• I bought popcorn for country singer Tanya Tucker at Ontario Place. She was dating Glen Campbell at the time but he didn’t buy her popcorn. I did, yup me.

• My family once stayed at the same Holiday Inn as the Ottawa Roughriders of the CFL. My dad and I held the door for the players as they entered the hotel lobby. Practically in the starting lineup eh?

•  A guy in my high school who I talked to at least once became the ringmaster for Garden Bros. Circus. I know you’re all a-tingle now aren’t you?

Talk about these things having no real relevance to me. These things don’t make me famous or important! Reminds me of the movie SPACEBALLS, “What does that make you? Total stangers!”

Is it bad for us to grab onto these little moments of interest? I don’t think so if it’s an innocent item of interest. No, not if it’s in the vein of a cool novelty thing. Better than talking about the weather again.

But if we are grabbing onto being special or famous by a remote connection then maybe it’s not good. If we’re trying to elevate ourselves and show off in front of our friends. Maybe look like “Yes, that’s right I’M friends with Joe Famous.” Then that’s bad.

Really, beyond it being a brief novelty, let me say the two words that got me into trouble in Mrs. Guthrie’s 11^th grade English class, “WHO CARES?” (got a detention for blurting that out as we were discussing Hamlet)

I love what one guy said on Facebook about Tim winning a Grammy, “Apparently as a child I was babysat by the sister of the guy from Arcade Fire... does that mean I won a grammy?

I’m pretty sure Tim didn’t mention my name at the Grammys. He and his bandmates have worked hard to get the award, I’m sure. Good for them. I take no credit nor do I deserve it. Nor will I be mentioning  “yeah, he’s a good guy, oh did I tell you that I know him?”

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound

I love this song. Dare I say it makes me glad I'm a wretch?

And whether you sing it to the traditional tune (my fav), or use the tune from the theme from Gilligan's Island, House of the Rising Sun (second fav) or the Lion Sleeps Tonight it still rocks the house!!!

Written by John Newton, the former captain of a slave ship who came to faith in Jesus Christ and not only turned from his former profession but he also helped William Wilberforce who fought and eventually banished slavery in the British Empire.

 Everybody, sing along!

 

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me -

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now, I see.

 

T'was Grace that taught -
my heart to fear.

And Grace, my fears relieved.

How precious did that Grace appear -

the hour I first believed.

 

Through many dangers, toils and snares -

we have already come.

T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far -

and Grace will lead us home.

 

The Lord has promised good to me -

His word my hope secures.

He will my shield and portion be -

as long as life endures.

 

When we've been here ten thousand years -

bright shining as the sun.

We've no less days to sing God's praise -

then when we've first begun.

 

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me -

I once was lost but now am found,

Was blind, but now, I see.