Lies Artists Believe

No one enjoys wallowing in his or her own stereotype like an artist.

Painting with large brush strokes . . .

I have worked around artists my whole life. I am an artist. I know what you say about us and I know what we allow ourselves to believe.

Artists are always late.
Artists can’t think straight.
Artists are flighty.
Artists are unorganized.
Artists are self-absorbed.
Artists have high highs and low lows.
Artists mostly have low lows.
Artists are out of control emotionally.
Artists’ passions often lead them astray.
Artists are tortured.

Wearing his or her “temperament” of shame (wrapped in pride), the artist often wanders through life discouraged, sad, and feeling misunderstood.

Disappointingly, some artists find a toxic strength in the identity of popular opinion and embrace the labels as a badge of honor. They begin to live out their self-fulfilled prophecy of a helpless and tormented soul. They become the bad girl or bad boy everyone thought they’d become--blaming indiscretions on the “way they were made.”

Some artists wave our temperament like a banner and a license of freedom to do whatever we want. On a path of self-destruction.

I’ve seen a sad trend with artists embracing the stereotype of the tortured artist as if they have a disease as opposed to a gift. As if they’ve been dealt a bad hand as opposed to a special prophetic way to heal the world.

If I hear one more male artist tell me that “every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for God” I am going to punch him in the neck. I get it. You’re full of emotion. No one understands your passion. Sometimes your sex drive (masquerading as passion) gets you in trouble. But, it’s not because you are an artist. It’s because you are making stupid choices.

Artists: If you drop the ball and show up late and give an excuse like you were tortured by a dream all night and had to paint it out on canvas to the wee hours, that is not a legitimate excuse. You didn’t set your alarm. It’s your fault.

If you didn’t prepare for something because you . . .

a) forgot
b) thought you could wing it
c) haven’t prepared for anything before and everyone knows that’s just how you are . . .

Stop playing a victim. Buy a notebook. Put reminders in your phone. People may expect you to blow it but I guarantee you they don’t like it. They tolerate you. Or ignore you.

If you have high highs and low lows that’s okay. Lots of people do. But they aren’t called artists. They’re called humans. You may need medication. You may need to be in community. You may need perspective. You may need to let go of some baggage. You may be lying to yourself. You may be in denial. Maybe all of the above.

Temperaments make sense. I get it. I believe in predispositions. I empathize with being wired a certain way. I understand having a certain bent. I too feel tormented at times. I’ve had seasons of driving my self crazy with dreams. Sleepless nights. Feeling misunderstood. I’ve been mocked. I’ve made bad decisions. I’ve battled narcissism.

Owning up to all the above, offering them to God, being accountable, allowing ourselves to be edited, practicing full disclosure with loved ones, and surrounding ourselves with people we trust to help us navigate life in Jesus is the way forward.

It’s time for artists to stop constantly getting caught with our hand in the cookie jar and blaming it our natural bent towards the smell of cookies.

Good Friday Art Piece

Our friend, fellow Westwindee and an exceptional artist, Mrs. Heidi Rhoades did a beautiful 4'x8' charcoal art piece on good Friday between the two Fusions. She started with a blank canvas at 6:00 and wrapped it up at 8:30.

Heidi told me beforehand she was excited to have no idea what she was going to create beforehand but create as she worshiped.

This art is now on display at The Winds.

Beneath the Covers

Tonight I spent quite a few hours putting together the songlist for the 3rd quarter at Westwinds. I know, I know, I’m on vacation. But, I really do have fun doing it because I sit down and listen to A LOT of music for a few hours when I put it together. Plus, it was girl’s night out so . . .

I am really excited about the lineup of covers/feature tunes for this quarter. Alanis Morissette, George Harrison, Dan Wilson, Tom Petty, Carrie Underwood, Counting Crows, Lenny Kravitz, Coldplay, Duran Duran, The Black Crowes, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, and the list goes on.

I even had some folks from Westwinds weigh in on the decisions via Twitter.

As I was wrapping up the list, I started reminiscing. I am coming up on 15 years of “professional” ministry soon. Over the last 15 years I have been able to cover some pretty incredible music in church.

I believe music—whatever “category” you put it in (style and/or genre)—should stand on it’s own merits. I have never done a song because every other church is doing it. I have never done a song simply because it is labeled “Christian” by someone.

Music is more than a “tool” to be used by the church.

It is a celebration of life. It is a story. It creates a mood. It presents a scenario. It conveys emotion. It stirs the soul. It asks questions. It hurts. It rejoices. It reminds. It performs heart surgery. It messes with you. It is like an old friend. It hopes. It empathizes. It is a dialogue. It speaks when poetry cannot speak alone.

In my mind, it is a shame to simply look at songs as a “setup” for a message. It is a shame to force-feed music into a theme. Sure, if a song works well for a theme you should consider it but, not just because of what it says—because of how it feels. Sometimes a song will “say” what you want it to say but it will feel all wrong. Sometimes a song may not be your “perfect fit” but it feels so right. Sometimes a song will not be anywhere close to your theme and you should still consider it.

So, I went back through the years of covers/features and made a list of some of my favorites. I will post more later. Here are the first 50 that I checked off the list because they jumped out at me as favorite moments.

1. You Might Think by The Cars
2. Yellow by Coldplay
3. Wishlist by Pearl Jam
4. When Love Comes to Town by U2 and B.B. King
5. What I’ve Done by Linkin Park
6. Weather With You by Crowded House
7. The Heart of the Matter by Don Henley
8. That Kind of Love by PFR (ummm, with Joel Hanson singing it with me)
9. Ten Cent Wings by Jonatha Brooke
10. Tempted by Squeeze
11. Stop this Train by John Mayer
12. Stand by R.E.M.
13. Pride and Joy by Stevie Ray Vaughn
14. Pride (IN the Name of Love) by U2
15. No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age
16. New Year’s Day by U2
17. New Routine by Fountains of Wayne
18. Neil Young Heart of Gold
19. Mr. Jones by Counting Crows
20. Move Along by All American Rejects
21. Livin’ on the Edge by Aerosmith
22. Live Like You Were Dyin’ by Tim McGraw
23. Like a Stone by Audioslave
24. Life in the Fast Lane by The Eagles
25. Let There be Love by Oasis
26. Learn to Fly by Foo Fighters
27. It’s Love by King’s X
28. Honesty by Billy Joel
29. Home by Foo Fighters
30. Hole Hearted by Extreme
31. Hard to Handle by The Black Crowes
32. Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones
33. Get Rhythm by Johnny Cash
34. Fool on the Hill by The Beatles
35. Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
36. Everyday is a Winding Road by Sheryl Crow
37. Everybody wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears
38. Do You Realize by The Flaming Lips
39. Dig In by Lenny Kravitz
40. Come Sail Away by Styx
41. Come on Over by Rob Thomas
42. Come Alive by Foo Fighters
43. Clocks by Coldplay
44. Bright Lights by Matchbox Twenty
45. Breathe (2am) by Anna Nalick
46. Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day
47. Baptized by Lenny Kravitz
48. Always on Your Side by Sheryl Crow and Sting
49. A King and a Kingdom by Derek Webb
50. (Tell Me) When God Will Speak by Billy Mann

MORE TO COME!

This post is part of Watercooler Wednesday over at Ethos. If you have any creative bone in your body, you should join the fun!