September 02, 2018

Sunday Devotional With Mr.E: Vision, Hearing, & Heart

Artists open themselves up to scrutiny every time they show their work.  One on one critique, small group critique, things said in a gallery/public showing, off the cuff remarks from family/friends,  written reviews in print, or comments left on social media.........there are a multitude of ways and opportunities for opinions to be shared in regards to your work.  Some will affirm what you are doing.  Some will encourage and challenge you to make positive changes that will strengthen your original vision and yield a stronger piece in the end.  However, some comments you read or hear may cause you to consider changing your work/direction in a way that will deviate too far from the original intent or heart.  Outside opinions can cause confusion, pain, and discouragement.  We must make the choice on how to best protect ourselves as artists.  Who do we listen to...who's opinion matters....do we avoid reading reviews or comments made on social media....can we allow comments we overhear or read to roll off our back?  Isolation is not the answer, but being wise in who/what we allow to impact our artist's heart is crucial. 


Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
Proverbs 4:23

There are many out there that live their lives thinking they are impervious to the influences of outside sources(people, music, books, TV, movies..etc).  They feel that they can participate in whatever, be around whoever, listen to whatever, watch whatever...and that it has no impact on their life.  Where we spend our time, with whom we spend our time, where we invest our energy, what we allow ourselves to see and hear.......reveals itself in how we think, how we speak, what we believe, and what we do.   It is as simple as good things in....good things out!  Though at times that doesn't seem so simple.  Often we allow ourselves to be influenced by what is popular, what we want(and not what we need), and what those around us are allowing in their life.  This can derail us from our passion and purpose.  It causes us to place our wants over God's plans.  We must take Proverbs 4:23 to heart..."Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

1 comment:

  1. Profound and simple! A golden rule. Guard your heart, and also don't be hard on yourself. Thanks for the reminders on Sunday.

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