Entry One: Living Creatively in a Dry Season

I have been through one of the driest seasons of my life as an artist.  I am not sure many know this… I have kept it to myself, save a few trusted artists experiencing a similar season and a dear husband.  Now, work should not define an artist, but unfortunately it happens to be true with this artist.

More recently, though, I have sensed the urge to move forward regardless.  Move forward regardless.  Did you hear that?  Write, tell, memorize, prepare.

I have had to stare into the mirror and ask an honest question of myself:  Does my writing and storytelling only make sense if there is someone in the room to applaud or validate it?  Or does my art intrinsically have value because I am called to create in these ways?

I believe it has value because dry season or abundant rainy-over-flowing-with-work season, I am called to live creatively.

An Audience of One…

My audience of one happens to be a relationship I have been in for a very long time. It began when I was 14 and barely knowledgeable of my gifts.

The relationship is the one I share with my Creator.  God is my audience of One.  And if I never wrote another story, told one, recorded one, I have lived off of a feast of His goodness in allowing me to use these gifts of storytelling and writing for many years.

So… today as I write this post, I know that to tell a story to Him, to write a story for Him is very much like running into the kitchen and showing Him the sculpted piece of clay, the finger painting thick with gloppy paint, the story with the scrawl of child beginning to write out of their imagination.

I can see myself holding a paper up high and saying proudly, “Please put it on your refrigerator… I hope you like this one.”

And in my mind’s eye, I can see Him throwing his head back with laughter and declaring, “I love it! It’s your best one yet!” I watch as He tapes it on a door filled to capacity with paper after paper. He studies it one more time and I swell with pride. My audience of One is pleased.

Now, I might lose a few of my friends of Right-Side-Up Stories as I share from this POV (point of view-vantage), but if that is true, perhaps we weren’t really in a relationship as fellow artists and lovers of story.  I am hoping you’ll stay and hear me out through more entries of how I live creatively as an artist.

Hey, I found water today…

My highpoint of creativity today was that of being a listener as someone told their story. Of course, they had been kind and listened to mine, but I have to say I loved listening to theirs.  As I listened, our stories overlapped and the edges touched and it was a sacred bit of time. We laughed. We paused at times. We let one another know their story was safe and that it meant a great deal to know more of it.

Although we left quickly for other appointments, I felt my life was less parched and dry for having been with them. A light sprinkling of summer rain had fallen on my patch of a life and felt good to get a little wet.

I would encourage you to listen deeply to the story of another life today or tomorrow or the next. Listen with no thought of cutting them off or interrupting with your story or critique (unless it’s a question to more fully understand).  Just give that up and listen.

Hoping you’ll stay with me in this conversation of Living the Artistic and Storied Life!  Melea