How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...I have been digging in the dirt in the back yard of the parsonage. Gardening. It's good for me. I love it. The sunny days and my days off have not been lining up very well. Yesterday was the first day where I have had time, inclination and good weather simultaneously. So, much gardening and mowing of the lawn was accomplished. It still feels odd to mow before Memorial Day weekend, but what's a man to do?
I have been thinking about creativity again. Thanks to the series of posts and the great comments about preaching etc, I've had a lot of fodder for thought. Taste. Expectations. Fruitfulness (and what particular fruit). There's so much at stake when we create. I am one of those people who tries to remove as much of their ego from the creative process as possible. I know it's impossible. I know that my ego is always involved. It's true. But I try no less to keep it in the background, to let the sermon/song/drawing/essay to have it's own voice. My voice is too damn petulant to be of much use.
When you create, how do you navigate that dynamic? Do you just let your self or your ego (Do you distinguish between the two?) speak? If so, how? What tastes dictate your style or content? What's your favorite creative media?
Posted by tripp at May 12, 2009 07:39 AMblatant self promotion:
I ended up thinking about preaching this morning (and some of that thinking ended up on the blog). That should not be a shock for a preacher. I picked Barbara Brown Taylor's book, The Preaching Life, off the book case. She talks about the way in which a sermon involves the community of the congregation (is that redundant? should/does congregation imply community?), the preacher in his or her self and God. It is the combination of all three she argues, even as she acknowledges the danger of preachers turning sermons into show and tell or simply telling the congregation what they know or pointing fingers at them while yelling and screaming. All three elements are present and it is the balance of the three.
For me, my voice is distinct and I do not sweat it much. I also have a phobia of confusing the pulpit with the psychiatrists couch. Keeping "Jeff and his pshychoses" out of the pulpit may seem to minimize my personal presence, but I think most of my sermons, and most of my writing for that matter bear my imprint and my thinking and my word choices. So there, I answered the question asked.
Posted by: Jeff at May 12, 2009 10:51 AMTripp,
On gardening and creativity: there is one school of thought that says you are not gardening if you are not killing plants. Which means you are not gardening if you are not taking chances and willing to take risks. For the medium of preaching I would say the same - although I doubt there is a homiletics theory that says you are not preaching unless you are killing parishioners...
Posted by: travis at May 13, 2009 08:51 AMI am reading a book by Muriel Barbery, a French writer. I went to a book discussion group on the book before I started reading the book.
(The Elegance of the Hedgehog)
The book had absolutely no, zero, zilch, publicity. It became a success in France by word-of-mouth. It became a New York Times bestseller by word-of-mouth.
A couple of weeks ago I went to a small gathering to meet Ms. Muriel Barbery.
The first question was, "Did you think that your book was going to be so successful."
She said, absolutely not. She just wrote. She did not think of what is professional or not. She wrote exactly what she wanted. Her and her husband were a bit in shock when the book took off.
This book is one of the best books I have ever read. It is so authentic. The wisdom in this book is so simple and real. And that is what other people have said.
I came across a quote by Harriet Martineau when I was doing some research in the library.
She said that when you are honest with people about how you feel, that you will be well loved and well hated.
This book by Muriel Barbery has reached the core of people because she was honest about how she feels. And it just turns out that a lot of people have been thinking and feeling the same way.
I think that letting go of ego and a part of maturity is realizing that not everybody is going to like or believe what you think or feel.
When we are in junior high we are guided by peer pressure. I think at some point we just have to be real. In being honest, it is a risk. You will find what is real and what is not. We learn from each other.
There will be criticism -- positive and negative.
I read the reviews for Trish's portrayal of Jean Brodie.
It was an ecletic mix of positive and negative. I think that is excellent. It means the portrayal is real. It reached out and got people. Some liked. Some did not.
I believe in trying to be respectful of other peoples' thoughts and feelings but at the same time, I believe in being honest and stream of consciousness.
But I do confess, being honest has gotten me into trouble sometimes. But it was for the best.
Those are my thoughts on ego.