Let Your love be my companion
In the war gainst my pride
Long to break all vain obsession
Till you're all that I desire
-Hillsong United
When I started writing in this blog, I set out with the intention of having it be as honest as possible, sharing my work as a photographer, a woman wanting to inspire and encourage others, especially other women. While this endeavor sounds noble in itself, can I just be honest and say it hasn't always been easy to live up to and has sometimes felt like most uphill battle ever? Like, there were moments it just plain sucked.
As with many creatives and artists wanting to share their work and inspire others for the sheer joy and meaningful-ness of it, sometimes the tangled web of wanting approval traps and tragically chokes even the most innocent of our intentions, blurs our vision of what we hope the end result will be. Photographer, writer, sculptor, painter, videographer, musician, person who builds stuff out of random things you name it, I can guarantee you we have all felt this at one point or another as a creative.
For me, this trapping, cunning web stops the creative flow in my photographs, the click of my camera, causes a writing stutter as the words of my heart can't seem to find it's way to the freeing surface of a page, stops the happy tapping sound of a keyboard, can't find it's way to reach deep into the heart of a reader and encourage them the way I had hoped.
Though I can't speak for everyone else in this world, I believe that the very best of anything and everything happens when the main reason a person is doing it is to honor God, whether it it's big or small task. I believe this because even as a photographer, I recall how many of my favorite photos were a result from when my eyes were simply and freely looking for the beauty in God's creations around me (in people, things, colors, shadings of light, small and overlooked details) - not for the world's approval, not for what it could possibly yield in comments, not for any other reason than for the sheer joy of being free to creatively run.
Simply put - I found that my best work only happens when I am free from the chains of my pride and instead am clinging on to a loving God who has not only allowed me to capture the beauty around me but also is refining my character in the process as a photographer, a writer, an artist, a woman, an entrepreneur, a human.....and most of all, as His daughter.
God can use anything and anyone to communicate how much He loves the world. Even a rambling and imperfect person like me. It's pretty fantastic.
Happy Monday!