Doubt. Do you struggle with it, too? I think most of us do. It can embody such a range ~ doubt about our art. Doubt about our design. Doubt about if we have anything to say or offer. Doubt about where we are in this season of life. It’s the dark-ish veil that can throw it’s shadow wide.
I get it…and maybe the artist is particularly vulnerable, especially if we work to be in the view and appreciation of others, which ironically is part of the calling of the artist, to express their vision or point of view to the world.
But refocusing our sights on this perspective (one I need to remind myself of often) is re-energizing. We ~ each of us ~ are created uniquely and purposefully. It’s not random and it’s not to be devalued. When we doubt, we lessen the value of who we are. This is so encouraging to me, and I hope it will feel personal and encouraging to you, too, as I look to scripture to validate what I’m saying:
“You formed my inmost being, shaping my delicate inside and my intricate outside, and wove them together in my mother’s womb. I thank you, God, for making me so mysteriously complex! Everything you do is marvelously breathtaking. It simply amazes me to think about it! How thoroughly you know me!
(Psalm 139:13-14 The Passion Translation)
Does this leave any doubt that we are wonderfully created ~ appointed with specific traits and interests and abilities? We are so purposely designed!
Even our artistic interests are purposely given to us to be developed and used. And, they are also to be a point of connection with the First Artist ~ God our Creator. Through our love of artistic work, we join into the joy of creativity that is part of God’s character. We “get” to express our delight in lovely ways. We “get” to bring something new and beautiful into the world.
To doubt this, to let doubt discourage us, is to diminish a part of ourselves that is meant to cause us to flourish and become all we were created to be.
But it’s so easy to doubt as the uncertainties of life, opinions of others, and the ups and downs of an artistic life creep in.
Let’s let doubt recede by being mindful that we are honoring our design as we create…that our creativity is a joyful gift given to us personally as a way we may connect with God, our Creator. May the joy of that connection and bringing something beautiful, new and unseen into the world give us energy in place of doubt.
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© 2022 Helen C Read
Photo Credit – Niklas Hamann
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