Squeezing out the creativity

I have a long To-do list. It's manageable and, if I were to practise the advice I've gleaned from all the books, seminars and articles I've read, attended and glanced at in a reverie of procrastination over the course of my working life, I'd discover that it's possible to make it a Done list. I'm great with deadlines. I'm well-acquainted with that sense of spent exhaustion that comes from pushing through to get something done just in time. I enjoy the sick feeling of impending doom as I struggle to think of what to say. Indeed, I find it hard to be creative without the pressure of a product in a given timeframe. Yet, I find that when a deadline looms and I'm faced with a blank sheet of paper my mind wanders down delightfully enticing tracks of new ideas. Suddenly I want to work on my novel. I have a brilliant idea for a play. I decide to create a raft of online outlets to share my musings with the world. I want to bake a cake. Practise my ukelele. Learn to tap dance.

I find it interesting to think about why it is that I am at my most creative when the fear of non-completion is upon me. Am I like a tube of toothpaste oozing too much fluoride goodness when squeezed too hard? Is my subconscious most engaged when my conscious mind is desperately battling to stay focussed? Or is it just that I'm a work-shy dreamer for whom the new and shiny is always more attractive than the hard graft of completing a task?

In any case, I've decided to keep an Ideas Book and jot down what I come up with so I can think about it later. Although maybe I'd be better off blogging about my ideas...turning them into a best-selling film...baking them into a cake...hmmm...now, what was it I set out to do?

Oh yes, a blog post about procrastination and creativity.

To avoid meeting two deadlines.

In Praise of Partnership

Over the past 5 weeks our venue has been hosting a weekly event called Granny Green's Big Night Out. It's billed as a night out for people who secretly like to stay in - a creative space for people to bring their knitting, sewing, card-making or website building and enjoy doing it in a sociable environment. Along the way much cake is consumed (actually, we could probably do with more cake being consumed - it's not the most profitable night that we hold), advice is sought and given, opinions are aired and friendships are formed. In addition to the crafty stuff we have a monthly book group, monthly film group and various workshops and demonstrations. I love it and I'm really proud of what we are building. It's nothing new - it's just a unisex WI for a new generation - but I think that community is being formed and I know that creativity is flourishing.

It's never going to be a big money-spinner for us as knitters don't have enough spare hands to drink vast amounts of coffee, but it meets our charitable aims and I believe God's kingdom is being built on Monday evenings between 6 and 9pm in our corner of the Grassmarket. 

There are a few things that I am learning from running Granny Green's. The first is that I am frustrated by fact that Christians in the city do not seem to be able to grasp how simple evangelism can be. It's just making friends and introducing your friends to your best friend. It's not hard. But to do it, you need get out and start making friends. That might mean less time spent in meetings. Fewer strategies and more action. Being prepared to listen to other people's thoughts and opinions. And avoiding judging their life choices. So far (as far as I am aware) I'm the only Christian regularly involved in the event, although I'm planning ways to convince others of the white harvest of crafty people that awaits. 

The second thing I have learned is that partnership is powerful. We are running this event with two girls who both run their own crafting communities. Of the two, one is more committed than the other, and we work together very well. We are very different, and I suspect our worldviews would clash over a number of key issues, but we are both trying to achieve community amongst this group and create an environment where people can learn from others and develop their own creative gifts. Debra Green of Redeeming Our Communities spoke at our church recently, and this was a point she made very strongly. When there is common purpose it doesn't matter if we don't all sign up to the same basis of faith (or any basis of faith for that matter). Indeed we ought to actively seek partnership for the good of our communities. I am thrilled to be working in partnership with my Granny Green collaborators. They have skills and contacts that I do not have, and I'm sure they'd say the same about me. I pray for them, and for the various people who come in search of community on a Monday evening, and I look for opportunities to tell them about my best friend.

The final lesson is the importance of bringing staff along with me. Again, they may not share my worldview, or even my desire to see this event happen, but by seeking their opinion and working hard to include them in my thinking about what is happening, I can see them blossom. One member of staff in particular, a waitress who has worked in the bistro for 5 years, has become the regular member of staff who works the Granny Green night and she has made the role her own - every week she spends time setting up the bistro, creating a design for the whiteboard that welcomes people and making people feel at home. It's given me time to get to know her too, and create another level of community.

Partnership...it's not always comfortable, but it's working for us. And I think it pleases God's heart more than a little.

Back to school

Photo: D Sharon Pruitt

First day back after the holidays. I've never got past that feeling of dread when the alarm goes off on the first day back, yet today has been a good day. The city is quiet and we're rediscovering the rhythm and routine of life after the tourist season. Over the next few weeks I need to begin thinking about strategic partnerships that we can make with other arts organisations and with the churches in Edinburgh. I enjoy finding the  balance between planning and allowing the Holy Spirit to gently direct me in unexpected ways. There's always a pressure to lean towards the former, and disregard the latter as not business-like enough, but my experience so far in this role has shown that the unexpected encounters and apparently unintentional conversations can prove the most fruitful. So the challenge is to stay in step with what the Spirit is doing here and allow God space to work through the strategy.  And to remember that there is time enough for everything that has to be done.

While I was on holiday I read John Stott's The Radical Disciple and was reminded of the importance of developing younger people. I have identified seven people that I would like to pray for and, to a greater or lesser extent, mentor (one is my official mentee, the others are people in my sphere of influence). It's easy to underestimate the power of offering people the opportunity to test their gifts and I'm determined to invite them along to events and offer encouragement and help where I have the necessary experience or insight. It's time to step up and accept that I'm now one of the grown-ups.

Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths. But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at telling others the Good News, and fully carry out the ministry God has given you. 

2 Timothy 4:2-5

Northern Lights

A dramatic ending to a summer of drama... 

A new season

The season is subtly slipping from summer to autumn. There's a tinge of red and orange in the leaves of the tree outside my window, there's a sharpness in the evening air and tonight is the annual fireworks concert in Princes Street Gardens. This open air concert and pyrotechnic display marks the end of the weeks of artistic activity that draw thousands of tourists to Edinburgh each summer. Theatre, comedy, music, books, magic, film, dance, street performance all flourish over the months of July and August, and the start of September marks a change in the air for those of us who live and work in the city. There's a mixture of sadness and relief as the bagpipes are packed away and it becomes possible to get to your destination without tripping over a backpacker, juggler or flyerer. With one last burst of light in the sky life gets back to "normal'.
I wonder what that means. Normal is not about safe, mundane patterns of behaviour. Normal, for the disciple, is surely about seeking the light each day, about living in a radical, risky way where love flourishes in unexpected places. Normal is stepping out into new challenges and refusing to settle for well-trodden paths of the way things have aye been.
For me, this new season brings new challenges as I settle into my role in my workplace. There are priorities to set, new partnerships to form, funding to apply for and always the day to day challenge of how to manage people and projects in a way that glorifies God and builds his kingdom.
And this leads to a new set of questions. How do I find the balance of firmness and kindness as I manage people and situations? How do I carry out mundane tasks and jobs I find difficult in a way that demonstrates Christ's love? How much do I talk about Jesus to people who are paid to listen to me? How do I find expression of my own creativity when I am part of a business that has to make itself pay? How do I decide what to say 'no' to and remain faithful to my core calling?
What does it mean to be a creative evangelist in the place where God has led me for this season?