Journey and Story Sharing Blog
Art Brings Me Hope on My Journey
Written by: journeyoncanvas
03/07/2021 5:58 AM
Most people are having a hard time with hope right now. It has been a long year. COVID has hurt us. We are separated from family and friends, finances are strained, and our freedoms are limited. A lot of what we hear around us speaks of more of the same: more masks, new variants, and a strained economy. April is usually a month that brings warm sun and hope for new life. With March upon us, we are all hesitant to have hope. Already, our hopes have been dashed again and again. It feels like this season will never end. How will we get through?
My constant, the thing that has gotten me through this far, is my creative process. It’s the one thing I have on my journey that’s always there for me. Even when I can’t go to a restaurant, see my family, or celebrate a holiday, I have a way to process my hopes, fears, and disappointments. Even when what I experience as I create is challenging, it’s still positive to have a way to make sense of things as I take the next step into tomorrow. Art making is my constant friend and companion.
Some might say that I have put my hopes in the wrong thing. How can creative process be my stabilizing force? It is through creative process that my spirituality speaks. Some meditate. Some pray. Some journal. Some study. I do these things, too. When I create, all I have put my hope in speaks. Art is not my God. Art is how I experience God. I have not turned my back on who I have always put my hope in. My spiritual experience is rooted in the constant, never ending voice I hear inside my heart and mind. God is still speaking. Jesus still guides me. What I hear spills forth on my canvas. What I hear is that this season will end, and hope is here. This canvas I just painted on promises that April showers will give way to a new season filled with hope. This is what I am sure of right now on my journey.
How will you get through? What do you have on your journey that you can rely on? Consider the power of the creative process to ground you and give you a way through these challenging times. How can art-making help you make sense of things as you take the next step into tomorrow? How can creative process lead you on your journey and bring you hope despite uncertain times? I challenge you to find an answer to these questions and then share what you discover with others. Creative process is a gift that can be shared and encouraged. Find yourself an expressive voice and then help others find theirs. Let your art speak.
April Showers, 2021
Most people are having a hard time with hope right now. It has been a long year. COVID has hurt us. We are separated from family and friends, finances are strained, and our freedoms are limited. A lot of what we hear around us speaks of more of the same: more masks, new variants, and a strained economy. April is usually a month that brings warm sun and hope for new life. With March upon us, we are all hesitant to have hope. Already, our hopes have been dashed again and again. It feels like this season will never end. How will we get through?
My constant, the thing that has gotten me through this far, is my creative process. It’s the one thing I have on my journey that’s always there for me. Even when I can’t go to a restaurant, see my family, or celebrate a holiday, I have a way to process my hopes, fears, and disappointments. Even when what I experience as I create is challenging, it’s still positive to have a way to make sense of things as I take the next step into tomorrow. Art making is my constant friend and companion.
Some might say that I have put my hopes in the wrong thing. How can creative process be my stabilizing force? It is through creative process that my spirituality speaks. Some meditate. Some pray. Some journal. Some study. I do these things, too. When I create, all I have put my hope in speaks. Art is not my God. Art is how I experience God. I have not turned my back on who I have always put my hope in. My spiritual experience is rooted in the constant, never ending voice I hear inside my heart and mind. God is still speaking. Jesus still guides me. What I hear spills forth on my canvas. What I hear is that this season will end, and hope is here. This canvas I just painted on promises that April showers will give way to a new season filled with hope. This is what I am sure of right now on my journey.
How will you get through? What do you have on your journey that you can rely on? Consider the power of the creative process to ground you and give you a way through these challenging times. How can art-making help you make sense of things as you take the next step into tomorrow? How can creative process lead you on your journey and bring you hope despite uncertain times? I challenge you to find an answer to these questions and then share what you discover with others. Creative process is a gift that can be shared and encouraged. Find yourself an expressive voice and then help others find theirs. Let your art speak.
Journey on Canvas Blog: A Place to Share Hope on Your Journey
Journey on Canvas is a spiritual autobiography and spiritual journaling site. The Journey on Canvas Blog will give you ideas for your spiritual journal and give you opportunities to share your spiritual story. This blog is also a place to find hope on your journey. Read, blog with me, and enjoy!
Tears for Dancing, Age 42
The older I get the less I think about what I can get out of this life. Bad things happen here on Earth and no one is immune. I see my parents suffering, I watch terrible things happen to my friends and I see catastrophic events that create hell on Earth. Revelation 21:4 promises that someday God will wipe every tear from our eyes and the old order of things will pass away. I’m beginning to think that this promise isn’t so far away: it’s just waiting for us at the next stop. Maybe when we die we trade our tears for dancing and enter Heaven. Until then, I'm going to paint, I'm going to write, and I'm going to share when I find hope in this life. That's why I'm here at Journey on Canvas.
