One way I'm aiming to truly LIVE this week is by consistently focusing on seeing the beauty in other people and showing them love the way God would want me to. I see it as a wonderful way of giving something small from the Incredible gift He has given me: the gift of His love and living together with Him for the rest of my life 🤍
Ditto to spending time with other writers! I recently talked on the phone with one of my writer friends and I got off the call FIRED UP to write! Are you traveling anywhere fun soon?
How I'm living this week: going for a late-night swim just before bed to clear my thoughts, meeting a dear friend, spending time with my church home group and making lots of chai lattes xox
I read The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry a while back and since then, we’ve actually been having a real Sabbath. This practice has been so nourishing to my creative well. It’s feels as though my head comes above water on that day each week. Also, being off social media. The less information I’m taking in, the more creative I feel. On the other hand though, being really thoughtful about what I’m taking in - a slow drip of quality storytelling is very filling. But ultimately, as a Christian, I truly believe that apart from God, I have no real creativity. He is the ultimate source of living water - I can’t ever run dry when He is sustaining me.
* Is there a time in your writing life you have felt like a machine or fallen into the trap of writing for metrics?
Yes! For quite a while I believed that being an “influencer” was the path for me. I completely lost sight of God when I was so focused on building my own kingdom. Chasing success on social media was a constant moving target and a very unsustainable rhythm for creating; it didn’t allow for any natural ebbs and flows. And it caused me to be so focused on making things that I thought would perform well and to be honest, copying a lot of what other people were coming up with.
* How would you define true success in your writing life?
For Lent the past two years I fasted from social media entirely and WOW, the clarity. It’s like my glasses had been foggy for the past ten years. It brought me to a place too where I realized how off base I had been about trying to be an influencer. I wasn’t actually doing it for God like I had convinced myself I was. I was committed then to just walking away from social media forever. But I couldn’t get rid of this desire to write and craft stories through words, painting and photography. I sought God about this and trusted people in my life and felt led to just share quietly on Substack. My writing has become a reflection of what God has been teaching me. So, success for me now just looks like: how much I’m communing with God through the process of creating; how much is my relationship with him growing through this practice.
* How are you LIVING this week?
Well…this week is requiring my full presence. We have 3 kids under 4 and the whole family has come down with a good ol’ Winter cold. So living this week looks like (all of this more than normal): phone in a drawer, looking my kids in the eyes, getting down on their level, reading more books, long cuddles at midnight with the baby, building with legos and slowly simmering homemade soups all day.
"A slow drip of quality storytelling is very filling"—this is so true. And you are so right that taking a Sabbath is obviously good for us spiritually, but things that are good for us spiritually are often also good for us creatively. This whole response is so relatable and real in so many ways!
And I'm so sorry about the winter cold 😭 I hope you enjoy time with your kids amidst the sniffles!
This is really wonderful, Alicia! Thanks for creating this space. 🥰 I’m living this week by embracing my part time jobs that ask me to be with people and serve in completely different ways- instead of being annoyed by the time they take away from creative work. 🤪
Dear Alicia - you go, girl! You've created a lovely Christ-centered niche. The sky's the limit. Delightful. So happy to subscribe. You'll see me around ...
I just finished (re)reading the Intellectual Life by AG Sertillanges, OP, and your post reminded me of this quote:
Nature renews everything, refreshes every well formed mind, opens up new vistas and suggests surveys that abstract thinking knows nothing of. The tree is a teacher; the field teems with ideas as with anemones or daisies; the clouds and stars in the revolving sky bring fresh inspiration; the mountains steady our thoughts with their mass; and the course of running streams starts the mind on lofty meditations. (The Intellectual Life: It’s Spirit, Conditions, Methods by AG Sertillanges OP, trans. Mary Ryan, p238)
A very different context, perhaps, but I couldn’t help but notice the harmony for the intellectual life and the creative life.
We are indeed God's "poiema" Greek for "a made thing"; which Paul said so well in Ephesians. (That discovery led to the naming of my Substack :-).
Not only are we God's poem, but he writes his poetry through us, and as Christians, all we do is a way to reflect his creativity in our life, writing, cooking,, poetry, painting, whatever.
I think there's something ESPECIALLY about going on walks that helps us clear our heads so we can actually think—and when we actually think, our brains turn out some pretty fun creative stuff!
I've been writing for two years, sporadically while dealing with a lot of life. And now that my life has begun to settle, I have time to focus more on my writing. But even still, a writer must live to be able to write. Some of my best ideas come to me on a slow walk through the center of town, or a drive down a quiet dirt road, or at a game night with friends. Keep living, keep writing.
This is so true. I said this in my reply to E.V.'s comment here too, but there's something about walking that clears ours minds and lets us actually think deeply that is so helpful for the creative process!
One way I'm aiming to truly LIVE this week is by consistently focusing on seeing the beauty in other people and showing them love the way God would want me to. I see it as a wonderful way of giving something small from the Incredible gift He has given me: the gift of His love and living together with Him for the rest of my life 🤍
This is beautiful! Yes to all of it!
Spending time with other writers fills my well! Traveling also does the trick. Seeing new things gives me inspiration.
Ditto to spending time with other writers! I recently talked on the phone with one of my writer friends and I got off the call FIRED UP to write! Are you traveling anywhere fun soon?
Not right now. Missions trip to Mexico this summer. :)
Definitely travelling! There's something so inspiring about experiencing places for the first time.
How I'm living this week: going for a late-night swim just before bed to clear my thoughts, meeting a dear friend, spending time with my church home group and making lots of chai lattes xox
A late-night swim before bed sounds like you live in a MOVIE! Sign me up!!!
(also sign me up for one of those chai lattes. yum!)
I promise to bring you if you ever visit Ireland 💖
A late night swim?? Oh yes, it does sound like you live in a movie! I love that.
* What fills your creative well?
I read The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry a while back and since then, we’ve actually been having a real Sabbath. This practice has been so nourishing to my creative well. It’s feels as though my head comes above water on that day each week. Also, being off social media. The less information I’m taking in, the more creative I feel. On the other hand though, being really thoughtful about what I’m taking in - a slow drip of quality storytelling is very filling. But ultimately, as a Christian, I truly believe that apart from God, I have no real creativity. He is the ultimate source of living water - I can’t ever run dry when He is sustaining me.
* Is there a time in your writing life you have felt like a machine or fallen into the trap of writing for metrics?
Yes! For quite a while I believed that being an “influencer” was the path for me. I completely lost sight of God when I was so focused on building my own kingdom. Chasing success on social media was a constant moving target and a very unsustainable rhythm for creating; it didn’t allow for any natural ebbs and flows. And it caused me to be so focused on making things that I thought would perform well and to be honest, copying a lot of what other people were coming up with.
* How would you define true success in your writing life?
For Lent the past two years I fasted from social media entirely and WOW, the clarity. It’s like my glasses had been foggy for the past ten years. It brought me to a place too where I realized how off base I had been about trying to be an influencer. I wasn’t actually doing it for God like I had convinced myself I was. I was committed then to just walking away from social media forever. But I couldn’t get rid of this desire to write and craft stories through words, painting and photography. I sought God about this and trusted people in my life and felt led to just share quietly on Substack. My writing has become a reflection of what God has been teaching me. So, success for me now just looks like: how much I’m communing with God through the process of creating; how much is my relationship with him growing through this practice.
* How are you LIVING this week?
Well…this week is requiring my full presence. We have 3 kids under 4 and the whole family has come down with a good ol’ Winter cold. So living this week looks like (all of this more than normal): phone in a drawer, looking my kids in the eyes, getting down on their level, reading more books, long cuddles at midnight with the baby, building with legos and slowly simmering homemade soups all day.
"A slow drip of quality storytelling is very filling"—this is so true. And you are so right that taking a Sabbath is obviously good for us spiritually, but things that are good for us spiritually are often also good for us creatively. This whole response is so relatable and real in so many ways!
And I'm so sorry about the winter cold 😭 I hope you enjoy time with your kids amidst the sniffles!
This is really wonderful, Alicia! Thanks for creating this space. 🥰 I’m living this week by embracing my part time jobs that ask me to be with people and serve in completely different ways- instead of being annoyed by the time they take away from creative work. 🤪
Thank you for being here Caitlan! I'm so excited for this new adventure.
Dear Alicia - you go, girl! You've created a lovely Christ-centered niche. The sky's the limit. Delightful. So happy to subscribe. You'll see me around ...
Linda!!! Thank you for being here! I'm an so excited to have you :) And to see what this becomes!
I just finished (re)reading the Intellectual Life by AG Sertillanges, OP, and your post reminded me of this quote:
Nature renews everything, refreshes every well formed mind, opens up new vistas and suggests surveys that abstract thinking knows nothing of. The tree is a teacher; the field teems with ideas as with anemones or daisies; the clouds and stars in the revolving sky bring fresh inspiration; the mountains steady our thoughts with their mass; and the course of running streams starts the mind on lofty meditations. (The Intellectual Life: It’s Spirit, Conditions, Methods by AG Sertillanges OP, trans. Mary Ryan, p238)
A very different context, perhaps, but I couldn’t help but notice the harmony for the intellectual life and the creative life.
WHAT a great quote!
So well said, Alicia.
We are indeed God's "poiema" Greek for "a made thing"; which Paul said so well in Ephesians. (That discovery led to the naming of my Substack :-).
Not only are we God's poem, but he writes his poetry through us, and as Christians, all we do is a way to reflect his creativity in our life, writing, cooking,, poetry, painting, whatever.
What a creative God we serve.
I LOVE the name of your Substack! This is lovely, Jody.
This is lovely and so true. My best creative breakthroughs this week happened when I was on a walk or helping my grandmother with yard work 💕
I think there's something ESPECIALLY about going on walks that helps us clear our heads so we can actually think—and when we actually think, our brains turn out some pretty fun creative stuff!
Absolutely!!
I've been writing for two years, sporadically while dealing with a lot of life. And now that my life has begun to settle, I have time to focus more on my writing. But even still, a writer must live to be able to write. Some of my best ideas come to me on a slow walk through the center of town, or a drive down a quiet dirt road, or at a game night with friends. Keep living, keep writing.
This is so true. I said this in my reply to E.V.'s comment here too, but there's something about walking that clears ours minds and lets us actually think deeply that is so helpful for the creative process!