Happy Friday Dance Party
Happy Friday everyone!
Music: We Speak No Americano by Yolanda Be Cool & DCup
It’s Everywhere I Look
Yesterday, I sat in a circle with some of my favorite artists and people. We went around the room doing a very simple exercise I learned from Seth Godin.
Two questions were asked:
What are you afraid won’t work?
What are you afraid will?
I began.
I’m afraid the anti-anxiety medication I’ve been taking for the last few months won’t work. I’m afraid therapy won’t work. And so, I’m afraid I will always feel the way I’m feeling now.
Conversely, I’m afraid of the “yes.” If people say “yes” to the ideas I’m working on, I’ll then have to actually make them and that scares me.
One by one, my friends spoke their fears outloud. There were follow-up questions, tears, and comforting remarks.
It was beautiful.
I left feeling elated and also terribly sad.
Fear is everywhere I look.
Thus, I imagine it’s staring you in the face right now as well.
So today, I ask you what I asked my friends:
What are you afraid won’t work?
What are you afraid will?
Go.
Wallpaper Wednesday
A few weeks ago, I got a crazy idea.
I would email some of my favorite designers and photographers the following creative brief:
Create a lovely desktop wallpaper with an image and/or quote inspired by my book, UNTITLED: Thoughts on the Creative Process. I will then giveaway said wallpaper on my site for all the world to see!
One of the unique pleasures of my little life is knowing some amazing artists. And guess what? Some of them said, “yes.”
Now, I’m not sure if I’ll have enough to do this every week, but here is the first installment from my friend, Allie Lehman, a fantastic designer heralding from Columbus, Ohio. The quote she chose:
“Becoming a great artist is about sitting and paying attention to the world that is passing everyone else by.”
You can download a version of her wallpaper for your desktop, iPad, and/or iPhone below.
Enjoy and be sure to head over to Allie’s site to check out more of her work.
Our Work is This:
A week or so after Christmas, a heavy package arrived in the mail.
It was from my Grandma Laila. Well into her nineties, she’s a tough, midwestern broad; sweet, a former schoolteacher and Rosie the Riveter, and conservative estimates would put her around 4 1/2 feet tall. She lives alone in a tiny house on the edge of Hoffman, Minnesota - population 672. My grandpa lives in a nursing home nearby, and while I’ve known him my whole life, he isn’t my real grandfather.
But, I’m getting ahead of myself.
The package, as I mentioned, was heavy - unusually so, given that what normally comes from my grandma is a shirt from Herberger’s that’s too big, which I then need to exchange at our local Carson Pierie Scott (new underwear here I come!).
This was decidedly, not a shirt.
Two layers of wrapping paper later revealed a book. An old looking book. A book about the 164th Infantry during the Pacific War entitled, They Were Ready.
If you know that scene in Christmas Vacation where the family realizes Aunt Bethany has wrapped up her cat, you’ll know what I was feeling. My grandma, the sharp tack of a woman who never writes down when she’s handing out the Eucharist at Lincoln Lutheran Farm Church; my grandma, who remembers just about everything, had lost it.
She had grabbed a random book from her shelf, wrapped it up, and sent it to me as a present.
My stomach sank.
I flipped through it absentmindedly as I walked to the trash can.
No. Oh no. I can’t keep this depressing artifact representing my grandma’s decline into madness.
And just as I opened the cabinet door under our sink, my eye caught something.
On the very last page, scribbled in pencil, was this note:
Dear Blaine,
After reading this book you will have a better understanding of Grandma Burns (Eddy). He had a hard time dealing with the aftermath of the war. He was 21 years old. He was in the National Guard out of Fargo - the 164th Infantry. He witnessed the deaths of many of his dear friends and buddies. It took its toll on him. You’ll find his name and his brother’s, Buddy and Pete, in this book.
Oh.
I got it.
This book wasn’t a random gift, pulled from the shelves of a woman on the verge of memory loss.
This book wasn’t a story about a war that had nothing to do with me.
This book was a story about my family.
This book was a story about me.
And I had almost thrown it away.
Things like this really do a number on me. In fact, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about all the connections.
Knowing that my Grandpa Burns came back from the war a traumatized, 21 year-old, helps me understand my grandparent’s divorce and my grandma’s re-marriage to a man named, Dennis, who now lives in a nursing home on the other side of town.
Knowing what my Grandpa Burns had seen with this young eyes and then knowing that he began drinking soon after his return from the war, helps me understand my own addictions.
Knowing that my Grandpa Burns and his brothers were given purple hearts for having all three been shot (and survived) with the same bullet, helps me believe there might be bravery inside my own heart.
But I wouldn’t have known any of this if my Grandma hadn’t included her note.
***************
I’m reading a lot these days in preparation for our Easter services. I’m reading and re-reading Genesis and the story of Israel. I’m reading Sean Gladding’s, The Story of God, the Story of Us, along with Scot McKnight’s new book, The King Jesus Gospel.
And as I read these texts, I keep realizing that the stories contained within aren’t merely historical.
They aren’t simply random stories sent by a random God.
They are stories about my family.
They are stories about me.
As I read, the stories remind me that my darkness isn’t that different from my ancestor’s.
They also remind me of the beauty and glory I was made to magnify and create myself.
It occurs to me then, that our work is this:
To write notes to ourselves and to one another, reminding us of the story we’re all apart of.
If we don’t do this, and don’t do so humbly and with our whole hearts, we give ourselves, and our friends, no good reason not to throw the story right in the trash.
It’s Back! Happy Friday Dance Party #5
One day I’ll tell you why I do these, but until then, here’s the next installment. Enjoy.
Music: Domino by Jessie J
Sideways Snow
My view today as I was workin’ it.
I Need a New Liturgy
I grew up Catholic and while there is much I don’t miss of the thousands and thousands of hours I spent at Mass, there is a tremendous amount I do.
I miss the practice of confession, the orientation of the church calendar, the put-a-dollar-in-to-light-a-candle corner.
But what I miss most is the liturgy.
Living in the land of church that consists of “every week should be a surprise,” I deeply long for the regulating and centering power a liturgy has to offer (of course I know the grass isn’t always greener and that even the liturgy can bore this post-modern boy to death).
Still…
I long for some order of things.
Enter, A New Liturgy - a project created and curated by my very good friend, Aaron Niequist.
About a year or so ago, he started telling me about a dream he had of creating a series of compact, audible liturgies that people could listen to wherever they were; thus transforming their drive to work or their run around the lake into a sacred space.
Aaron writes:
A New Liturgy is our attempt to create holy space wherever we find ourselves. A moveable, sonic sanctuary. Released quarterly, each Liturgy is a 25 minute journey of music, prayer, scripture, and space that helps open us to The Almighty in any location, season, or emotion. I really need this.
So do I, in fact.
I loved it from the first demo I heard and have loved it ever since.
Aaron and a cadre of my friends are now onto their second offering - Blessed to Be a Blessing and a third one around confession (my favorite subject) is in the works.
If you’re longing for some space, or if you’re longing to create some.
If you’re longing to orient the bits of your life, or for a bit of order of things, then I suggest you download A New Liturgy 1 & 2 immediately.
A Prayer for the Year Ahead
Happy new year, my friends. Good to see you again!
I hope the holidays and the new year are treating you well.
I don’t know about you, but I love this time of year. It’s when we pause and say to the world, to each other, and to ourselves we want this year to be different.
There’s an excitement in the air. There’s deep hope. Tremendous anticipation. Our hearts beat fast as we imagine the possibilities of what could be.
Whether you officially made a resolution this year, I’m sure everyone reading this has probably made some kind of quiet resolution of wanting something in their life to be different this year.
I think resolutions are so important. No one ever changes on accident. But this business of becoming more human, growing, changing - it can be so hard.
Because of this fact, I’m certain that there are many of us who are already feeling the painful sting of shame for not being able to keep our resolutions for even a week. That thing we said we definitely we weren’t going to do, we did. Or, that thing we said we definitely were going to do, we didn’t.
It’s heartbreaking and I know exactly how you feel.
We resolve, we commit, we write it down, post it on our blogs, and yet we just can’t always seem to follow through. I suppose it’s no wonder, a recent NY Times article actually said that humans are made with a limited supply of stick-to-itiveness and willpower.
So then, maybe there’s something we’re missing here. Maybe we’re not supposed to be doing this thing on our own. Maybe we weren’t created to power-through - to dominate the world, or ourselves into change.
In the scriptures, Peter writes the following:
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. - 2 Peter 1:3,4
New Years resolutions often tend to be about us working hard, us making things happen, us digging deep, but as we’ve seen and possibly experienced already this past week, our powers are limited. I know mine are.
Throughout all of scripture, there’s a secret Jesus is trying to tell us:
God is right here waiting to help us become the people He’s made us to be.
We just don’t always realize it. We can’t accept it. We can’t believe it.
I mean what if this thing Peter describes as divine power is actually real? It seems like it would change everything.
So maybe what we need today, a good, healthy week into the new year, is to remind ourselves and each other that this divine power to become the people God created us to be, is real.
Perhaps it is true that God has already given us everything we need for life and godliness.
Perhaps it is true that God and his divine power is waiting here to help us become the people we desperately hope we will become this year.
This last weekend, I led our community in a time of prayer, inviting God and His divine power to literally infiltrate our lives and I’d like to invite you to do the same.
If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to ask that you place your open hands on your lap. As we pray, we must realize that what we’re asking for is a gift to be received with open hands and not the clenched fists of mere will-power and resolve.
Let us pray.
First, for OUR RELATIONSHIPS - Our families and our friends. The broken relationships we endeavor to fix and the ones we’ve deemed unfixable. God we invite your divine power into this area of our lives.
OUR FINANCES - We thank you for the gift of resources; we realize every dollar is an abundant gift from you. We pray we will manage these gifts wisely. God we invite your divine power into this area of our lives.
OUR WORK - First for those of us without employment, we join with you now, praying for work to come our way. For those of us who find ourselves with gainful employment, we ask that you would be with us at our desks, in our homes, in our cars, on planes and in hotels, in our meetings, and in our conversations. God we invite your divine power into this area of our lives.
OUR ADDICTIONS & THE THINGS WE WRESTLE WITH - Whether it be sex, food, alcohol, drugs, or something else - we admit we’re all wrestling with something. God we invite your divine power into this area of our lives.
OUR DESIRES & DREAMS - For the desires in our hearts - the things we long to do, to get right, to be better at in the new year. For our deepest hopes and dreams. God we invite your divine power into this area of our lives.
OUR FEAR - For the fears that keep us from taking risks and from telling the truth of who we really are. God we invite your divine power into this area of our lives.
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them we may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen.
On Hiatus - thru January 9th
After a good long year of work, I’m taking a brief breather from this site as I plan the year ahead.
In the meantime, please check out my latest book, UNTITLED: Thoughts on the Creative Process and a few of my favorite posts:
- Crashing into the Seattle School
- To Find a Tea Kettle
- The Void & Why You Won’t Jump
- My Personal Creative Process
- Contain Yourself Already
Subscribe to the blog here to get the latest and then come find me on Twitter, Facebook, & Instagram.
See you soon, friends!
Giveaway: Untitled book & posters
Thanks to Random.org, I now give you the winners:
- Toffi Seinsche
- Eric Barz
- Jason van Dyk
- Ric Beemer
If you see your name, please shoot me an email with your mailing address, along with your e-version preference (Kindle or iBook).
If you didn’t win, you can still get a copy of the book (only $4.99) on Amazon and we’re also working on a way for you to possibly purchase posters very soon.
Thanks for playing, friends!
**********************
Man, things have been just crazy around these parts the last few weeks. Rehearsals, final cuts, critical feedback (more on that later).But you know, what? I’m never too busy to give stuff away!4 lucky winners will receive an e-copy of my book, UNTITLED, along with 4 custom posters inspired by quotes from the book created by some of my favorite designer friends - Allie Lehman, Nathan Michael, Bjorn Amundsen & Jesse Morrow.
To enter you simply need to do the following:
Comment below with your latest inspiration. Could be a quote, a link to a song, film, book title, piece of art, anything that’s inspiring you of late.Tweet or Facebook the following: Enter to win a copy of UNTITLED by @blainehogan and 4 custom posters here: http://bit.ly/tFIFQH
4 winners will be randomly chosen on Monday, Dec. 12th at noon.
Good luck!
