—Van Gogh

My friend John shared the quote in a meeting yesterday. I asked him to send it to me so I could share in this post. He did one better and took a photo of the page in the book (Windows of the Soul by Ken Gire) that he read it from. I thought about simply posting the quote, but honestly love this whole page that he sent me. Therefore I share that as well!

"Creativity and ego cannot go together; but if you free yourself from the comparing and the jealous mind, creativity opens up endlessly."

-Jeong Kwan

I was scanning through some articles in a photography blog that I follow and caught an article by Rajib Mukherjee (https://www.picturecorrect.com/tips/creative-jealousy-and-how-to-deal-with-it-as-a-photographer/) featuring thoughts a photographer named Sean Tucker. He shared about how he struggles with creative envy. I certainly resonate with this as I go through seasons from time time to time, when because of spiraling down into jealous thoughts of others’ successes, I fail to be who I am best at being. I love the first thought shared by Chef Jeong Kwan as featured in Chef’s Table.

I commit to focussing on being the most excellent version of me.

"Remember that the mark of a [great] professional is that they run their own race; they're not constantly comparing themselves to others. They're not threatened by the work that other produce. They’re too busy doing what they do. They don’t allow jealousy to take up emotional and mental space."

-Sean Tucker

I’ve been contemplating the thoughts that were presented in this video that a friend recently shared with me:
https://youtu.be/38Cy_Qlh7VM

I think it’s a good thought about "moments" vs. "scenes" - it’s a thought I realize I’ve been contemplating for years. It’s the reason why I don’t want to give up being part of Braintrust and some of the other Central responsibilities that I have in my portfolio. I care deeply about making sure that the "beauty" that I help coach and reveal has purpose in supporting/enhancing the greater story…

So I was taking a creative break while trying to work the diagram for Easter’s production design concept (I have a deadline to present this morning - I know, it’s not like I have a Troy Midweek to lead, or a Christmas Premier to have to get to late this evening, or Troy’s Christmas load in this Sunday to prepare for, or a big funeral to help provide coverage for, or our CT building project with a key meeting to prep for, or this weekend to think about making sure is covered while I have to be away on Saturday, or that fact that I’m still a position short and have the stress of ensuring coverage and praying through making a wise hire. No, not anything like that LOL - Anyway, sometimes the 1:1::input:output satisfaction of organizing helps me think creatively with the other side of my brain on the back burner…) and I came across this old half-written blog post I wrote over 5 years ago:

I spent the past week driving through New Zealand with three of my friends. It was an incredible journey both with the chance to fellowship with my travel mates and certainly an amazing treat to experience such a beautiful country!

Here are a few of my favorite images I captured. The first set are from our first two days on the North Island; the second collection is from the remainder of our trip through as much as we had time for in the South Island. I have the rest of my images up on my Facebook page. If you're interested in prints of any of these (or any other of my photography) please do contact me.

Whether a photograph, a spreadsheet, performance art, or leadership moment.

Sometimes the best path is nonlinear. Process matters. Effective is more important than efficient.

Life is too short to allow people to cherish the lesser. Break paradigms. Call people to the higher standard.

-St. Francis of Assisi