Profess Creatives

There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV)

The journey of the prophetic artist calls for shifts in seasons as we grow and mature both spiritually and creatively. Sometimes we are so used to one way of doing creative work, we hesitate to make take a different approach when it is needed. It’s paramount to engage these shifts and allow the flow of the Holy Spirit to guide our creativity. 

A huge turning point in my personal creative journey was learning to invest time in my creative mindset. One resource that helped me to do so is “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. Though she isn’t Christian, I believe her materials have many helpful concepts and activities that helped to guide my creative development.

The second time I took up the book to reread it, I questioned whether a new age creative could give me advice to help me on my creative journey.

But I also considered how prideful it is to think a professional can offer you no help because they’re spiritual beliefs don’t align with yours. Still, there is a level of discernment required to sift the valuable points from their resources that don’t conflict with biblical truths. 

5 Lessons from the Artist’s Way

Here are a few things I picked up from Julia that help me refresh my creative mindset. 

1. Write, write then write some more. Writing has been an important means for voicing my emotions, documenting my creative process and communion with God. Writing has given me a space to say the scary thoughts, pray through them and challenge them with God’s word. 
2. Make time to nurture your inner artist with regularly scheduled artist solo dates. 
3. Maintaining an attitude of playfulness and curiosity and experimentation is fundamental to sustained creativity.
4. Do creative exercises unrelated to your craft to improve your creative mindset, creative recovery and creative self discovery. Learn to separate your creative work from your creative self. 
5. Trust God to develop your creative gift, expand your network and send the resources necessary for each step of your journey. 

Main Takeaway

Embracing new ideas and methods is important to your growth as a prophetic artist (as long as they don’t contradict the word of God).

How have you been challenging your creative mindset? Lets know in the comments below.