I have been feeding off of the thoughts and works of others more so in these past few months than ever before. Everything has changed since I’ve begun my masters work at Mars Hill Graduate School, and I can’t go back. Once one’s eyes and ears have been opened to new ideas and the human condition, it is permanent. It’s one of the scariest things about this school.

Inspiration is everywhere. I’ve been reading fascinating books, interpreting new and old pieces of art, and learning to read texts, specifically the Scriptures, in the same way that I read people. I’ve been discovering photographers that push me into different realms of how to see things and unique ways to create imagery that tells a story.

I’ve recently begun the process of working with a new project based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan called Heart Support. I think their logo looks wonderful on t-shirts and hoodies. I’ve also been working on photography for my school’s new marketing campaign. As I’ve been working on these I have realized how much I am inspired by the work of others. I see it all over what I do.

Blaine pointed out to me the other day that he thinks it is interesting that I’ve become a photographer. He believes that I do it to capture faith, or maybe more clearly, that I capture a glimpse of the past that leads to hope for the future. I had never thought of it that way, but the more I think about it the more that I believe it. I’ve been looking through a few of my old photos with new eyes.

On page 12 of Letters to a Young Poet, Rilke writes:

“Go inside yourself. Discover the motive that bids you to write; examine whether it sends its roots down to the deepest places of your heart, confess to yourself whether you would have to die if writing were denied you. This before all: ask yourself in the quietest hour of your night: must I write? Dig down into yourself for a deep answer.”

These delicate words go so far beyond the art and task of writing. We all are inspired to do, and sometimes be, something. Usually it is not one’s vocation, as a vocation can kill a love. Sometimes it is, but I’ve found those instances to be rare.

There are so many things that have inspired me recently that I’d like to mention, because we all need inspiration.

Talkies: Reign Over Me, Into the Wild, Dan In Real Life, The Darjeeling Limited (It’s as if Wes Anderson attended Mars Hill and then proceeded to immediately write a script.)

Music: Claude Debussy and Antonio Vivaldi (One of the best ways I’m learning to interpret is through classical music), Aqualung, and Eva Cassidy

Photographers: Day 19, Elizabeth Weinberg, Noah Kalina, This Darling Life, Yangtan, Trever Hoehne, and all things Flickr (I have it open in my browser constantly.)

Books: There are too many to list (plus I feel it would be cliché to list my books for class, even though I love most of them). I will say that Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet, quoted above, is always in my bag wherever I go.

The World Wide Web (that’s the one with the email): Tom & Alissa, ISO50, So Serious

I would love to know what is inspiring you. I try not to ever ask for much feedback in the realm of comments because I do not want to (always want to) find my identity and value in what others think of what I do and write. But, that being said, there is a time and a place for collaboration and co-creating.

So please gift us with that which has been gifted to you. I would love to hear about it, and I think we all would love it as well.

“The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact w/ the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act.” – Marcel Duchamp

The other day in class we looked at a few art pieces, one by Marcel Duchamp and another by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. We had a long discussion about interpretation, how we see the pieces, how we interact with them and how we discern meaning. Before we began my professor asked that the students who had studied art history in college would please remain from commenting, since they probably had knowledge about the pieces, such as their titles, who created them, and what meanings are meant to be abstracted.

Dwight, our professor, asked the students what they thought. People gave all kinds of opinions about each piece. Some were literal. Others more conceptual. Finally after giving everyone a chance to contribute, Dwight would ask if any students who had studied art knew details about the piece. For each painting someone would raise their hand and proceed to give a wealth of information. Author. Time period. Title. Medium. Inspirations. Meaning. It was stunning and inspiring how much they knew.

After a bit my friend John raised his hand and said, “Dwight, I find it fascinating that you did not begin this conversation with any sort of claim to be an expert on these pieces of art, and yet you are able to facilitate a conversation, and with your guidance and the input of the community we are all able to gain a wealth of knowledge.”

Two things have stuck with me this past week from that class. One is that I think there is a tremendous amount of pressure on pastors in the local church to be experts on the text. I think I enter into a church gathering with the idea that the pastor is to have studied all week and to have somehow figured out the passage. That is unfair for me to do.

But what if there was a community that allowed the lead teaching pastor to facilitate discussion on a piece of text that they’ve been wrestling with, and having made some observations then opened it up to the church to elaborate upon. I think I would move anywhere to be a part of that sort of community, a community of co-authors.

The second thing has to do with the act of creating, being a creator, and co-creating.

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Why do we all love music? Why do we appreciate art, whether it is painting or sculpting or architecture or design or photography or an opera or film or any other form of creating? It is in us. We all appreciate art in some form, and I think we are all creative. It comes out differently in every individual. There is an art to mathematics. Art in running a marathon. There is an art to writing beautiful poetry or a moving novel. I see art and beauty in cooking an elegant meal and in acting in a theater and in nurturing a garden.

I think these things are in us, both creating and participating in and appreciating creations, because they are in God. God is a tirelessly creative God. He can’t help it. It’s in Him.

I do not create as a means to an end. I create as a means. I have to because it is in me, and it must flow out. Of course there are parts in me, and parts in everyone I would assume (though I am careful with that) that long to be validated. Told we’re ok. Appreciated and loved. Feedback is always encouraging, but I know that even if I didn’t have this space, or the space on Flickr and To Write With Light, that I would continue to create. Even if no one ever saw my photographs I would still click the shutter. If no one ever heard me sing I would still sing. There are things in me I long to express, and ultimately I am expressing them to God, as He is the creative one who created me in the first place.

There is another aspect in this: co-creating. When you create something, I enter into it and participate. I interact with your art somehow, be it through viewing a photograph or tasting wonderful food. And then I interpret it into my own story, and it inspires me to create something myself. In this way we are co-creating together. You write a story. I read the story and it speaks to me. Tells me who I am. Moves me. We co-author together. We dance together in this art.

And so I ask you, what do you love? Do you love photography? Are you taking photographs simply because you love to tell a story without words? Do it more and more. Keep creating. Are you cooking food that speaks of the beauty of God and the earth? Send me a box of goodies. Just kidding. 135 29th Ave. E., Seattle, WA 98112.

Are you inspired to write? Keep a daily journal. Write down every beautiful detail that you can; how the room smelled and the way she looked at you that night. Write about how you felt when he left or after she died. Write about your childhood. Every writer should write about their childhood. Write about the good things. The difficult things. The wonderful friendships and the terrible loss you’ve walked through. (I have a journal that I’ve been writing in for years with more detail than you can imagine, and you’ll never read a word of it, because it’s not for you. It’s just for me and hopefully my children some day. And so I continue to write.)

Run. Plant. Sculpt. Observe. Play. Listen. Paint. Mold. Explore. Develop. Discover. Sew. Design. Draw. Type. Taste. Sing. Strum. Capture. Move.

Don’t succumb to the lie that everything you create must be extravagant or astonishing. Remember that there is brilliance in the basic.

Don’t worry about who will see it or if anyone will ever see it.

But rather, create because you were created to create.

Jacob and I are getting close to getting the portfolio ready with photographs available for purchase. They will be in 5×7 and 8×10 formats for approximately $14 and $19 in American currency and will look pretty on your eastern-most wall. To build the already palpable anticipation, here are a few shots that will be available:

I have the three shots of the birds framed on my wall right now. I love a good series.

The site will be up as soon as possible. Tell your friends. And please don’t steal.

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In an unrelated matter, my roommate Blaine has created a few t-shirts that he is selling. You can read about the story behind the t-shirts here, and you can pick up a t-shirt for yourself here. They are available for females and males. All shirts are American Apparel goodness and therefore follow the size chart on AmericanApparel.net.

My personal favorite is Hope, which I will be adorning for multiple days in a row. You should buy a shirt, take a photo of yourself wearing the shirt and send it to me via electronic mail. Maybe I’ll put it in a post. Maybe I’ll just frame it and put it in my bedroom. Maybe that’s awkward.

What if it ends? What if I enjoy you more than you enjoy me? What if your delight in me is bogus? Or worse, what if it is mere manipulation to get from me what you want? What if I love you and then you die, divorce me, or turn against me? The risk is more than I can bear, and so I refuse to open my heart to another person who will arouse my desire and then might use me or dash me to the ground.

Such ambivalence is the enemy of love, [because love] is the capacity to offer ourselves to others.

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Exert from The Healing Path by Dan Allender, pg 29

(Art above created by my housemate, Blaine Hogan)

I have two pen pals. My friend Willie and I mail a polaroid to each other every tuesday (although he is much, much more consistently on time than I). The other is my friend Rachel in Malaysia. We mail a photograph to each other every month along with other little cultural tidbits.

Today, to my great surprise, I received this in the mail in a simple manila envelope:

A great friend is someone who will take the time to package and send you something that is insignificant to most but is of dire significance to you. (That may be a bit of a hyperbole, but I’m a writer, so I exercise my right to use what I learned in 10th grade English from Mr. Holloway.) I’m very picky with my writing utensils clicky tops not twisty bottoms and my paper Moleskine I love you, so getting not only a recommendation, but an actual pen from a true artist, is something of great worth.

I love snail mail. Thanks Aubrey. I owe you.

REVO is a movement to inspire change through the arts. They are holding a benefit in the Nashville area for Blood:Water Mission on April 20th at the Factory at Franklin/Building 8.

Blood:Water Mission exists to promote clean blood and clean water efforts in Africa, tangibly reducing the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic while addressing the underlying issues of poverty, injustice and oppression. They are striving to build clean water wells, support medical facilities, and focus on community and worldview transformation, both here in America and in Africa.

Some of my photography is getting auctioned off at REVO to raise money for Blood:Water. It’s a complete honor to be a part of something like this. At first I wasn’t going to be able to make it to the event myself, but this week I decided to change some former plans and make the trip down to Nashville for the benefit. I’m still trying to decide which prints to take and what sizes/mediums on which to print them. You can get more info for the event here and here. More info for Blood:Water here and here.
If you’re in the Nashville area (read: Memphis, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Kentucky, Montana, Malaysia) then you should come and hang out. I’d love to meet you. Also you should totally buy one of my photographs to raise money for Blood:Water. I get 0% of the money, so spend your entire allowance. It’s for a great cause and you and I will be bff. f. f. I don’t even know what that means.

Phil Wickham will be at the benefit, and he’s quite amazing. Jeremy Cowart is displaying some canvas prints. Quite a few other local artists/musicians/photographers/bearded vagabonds who don’t fit in will be at the event. I’m not familiar with the other people on the banner above, but I’m sure they are lovely people who create lovely music and art. And I hear they are expecting quite a large turnout, so you should come. You should also bring cookies. And milk. And we’ll eat them together.

Let me know if you’ll be at the event. It’d be great to meet up.

the following are some of my notes from the 1st night session at the [isn't she beautiful?] conference at mars hill bible church. the notes are not all inclusive nor concise, and it should be noted that i drank entirely too much coffee and had to pee for most of the seminar, but refused to go in fear of missing out on brilliance. bladder=in pain. sacrifices must be made.

creativity: there’s a box?