Things I’ve Learned From Other People

There are very few blogs that I subscribe to, the few that I do keep an eye on are either close friends or artists/professionals that I admire.  Every so often one of these people posts an article that is timely and poignant to me.  I often read said article and think, “hm, that was a good read, I should think about that more.”  I then proceed to go about my day and forget completely about what I read and it’s effect on me.

I decided today to use my blog as a place to process the things I learn from other people. Keep in mind that these are just my thoughts, my way of processing, if you will.  I don’t know if anything posted under this category will be concrete, but I hope others will relate with me or be inspired by the words that inspire me.

All that being said, Today I read a blog post from Donald Miller that really got me thinking.  The article was called “The Single Most Powerful Question You Can Ask”  It’s a pretty wordy title if you ask me, but the article was brief and to the point, which I like.

The question Donald was referring to was “What If?”  He says in his article, “J.R.R. Tolkien once asked the question What if there existed a place called Middle Earth, and What if Middle Earth were under threat? Every good story begins with some form of this question, and so does every life.”  The idea is that great stories stem from this question and we can chose to live a great story by challenging ourselves with the same question.

This is the question that I believe lead me to start pursuing a fine arts education, it has the power to radically change our lives.  For a really long time I felt like I could do nothing without God magically appearing to me in a burst of light or speaking to me in some really deep audible voice from a cloud in the sky at night… sounds silly but I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who has felt this way.  The truth is that God has given us life to live and liberty in that life to take risks, to fail, succeed, rejoice…

I think a lot of people settle in to their lives, work a 9 to 5 and give up on the things that stir their heart.

What if they didn’t?