Simple

Yesterday morning at staff meeting, we were praying over requests that had been submitted last Sunday during the weekend services. Every Tuesday, the requests are divided among each staff member, and we take turns praying aloud for each and every request. It is a refreshing experience to start a meeting with a time of worship and prayer. It forces me to focus on what is truly important and to surrender all of the complications I usually end up creating from the often simple things and situations in my life.

It is especially humbling to pray for other people and hear others pray with a depth of sincerity that is sometimes difficult to grasp. I have realized over the past couple of months just how simple my life and my "problems" are - in large part because of these staff meetings and the examples of humility and care I see from the people there. 

It is quite the jarring experience to suddenly realize that the inconvenience of having to wait in line that morning at Starbucks an extra five minutes is not the mountain I created it to be when I pray for people with debilitating and life-threatening diseases and illnesses; or for those who are lost and wandering aimlessly for a guide, a light, a beacon of hope.

And then there are the reminders of tough lessons learned, friends and loved ones lost, and scar tissue revealed in the light of the needs of others that seem to echo through my life. As I prayed aloud for someone who has leukemia, in my thoughts I was suddenly sitting in the driver's seat of Engine 1 next to Jason Jackson, pulling out of the station to respond to a fire. I could hear his words and my reply as he talked about being in remission from leukemia and finally being allowed to run fire calls again. I recalled standing next to him in a field filled with smoke so thick, you couldn't breathe from 54 round hay bales on fire, much less see the hay, and sticking it out with him until the smoke cleared and the field was transformed into a shallow pond. I recalled being in the ER a few months later after transporting a patient and learning that Jason was back in the hospital - several floors above where I stood. And I recalled driving Engine 1 one more time for Jason - this time as a part of his funeral procession. It is unfortunate that I could tell more stories than I'd like to count like the one about Jason, and I am sure every person reading this has just as many and some who have more.

In all this I realize the simple thing I have overcomplicated most in my life is love. How to love people the way Christ did on earth and does to this very second. How he loved Jason Jackson. How he loved and loves me. How he loves you. Simply and completely.

Scott Lane (black helmet), Jason (yellow helmet) and myself

Jason (on right) and me

Rebooting (Almost) Everything

Over the past few months, I have been focusing on improving my physical and spiritual health, time management, schedule, leadership and creativity.

It is going to take time and will not all be easy, but I have begun to use tools (some I've had collecting digital and actual dust for months and even years), and I am beginning to notice small differences.

I thought it might be helpful to some folks if I share what I am learning and some resources and practices I have begun utilizing and implementing.

Before I begin, I should admit that I am, at heart, a procrastinator and a perfectionist. My procrastination has withered significantly, but it still tugs on me from time to time. It's last known manifestation in all it's fury took place during my last week of college. . . My perfectionism is still pretty much alive and well, but I am doing my best to learn when to listen to it and when to pull the proverbial trigger and call a project "finished" or at least draft-worthy.

Spiritual Health:

I have begun to actually force myself to spend dedicated blocks of time (sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the evening and sometimes both) to read, study and pray. In addition, I started to actually think about the things I tell people I will pray for and about, and do it. It seems pretty simple, but sometimes it's the simple things that get overlooked or neglected. Right now, I am reading through 1 and 2 Samuel and a 30-day devotional through the books of John and Acts on my YouVersion bible app.

I have also been meeting with leaders in my church on a fairly regular basis, and I do my best to request and seriously consider feedback about the work I am doing, my leadership skills and shortcomings, and anything else that might be applicable to how my attitude, behavior and communication impacts others.

My viewpoint of my actions and methods has also been shifting from support to leadership over the last 18 months or so, and I am being given new opportunities to put that into practice again.

Physical Health:

About 60 days ago, my wife and I agreed to make a 90-day foray into the world of gluten-free foods. To be completely honest, I was not a huge fan of this (right now, gluten-free has a fad stigma and I don't seem to have any health issues related to gluten intolerance), but it has not been that difficult and my wife and I have seen some pretty encouraging results. I don't know the total of weight lost (it is somewhere around 20 pounds) because I don't like to pay attention to numbers, but I can wear shirts I had outgrown and my pants are becoming clownish. My wife has experienced improved health that might have been related to gluten-intolerance and she is disappearing before my very eyes.

The thing I have neglected is regular exercise, which is one of the long-term and permanent adjustments I will make to my lifestyle. It is easy to get distracted by work, planning, preparing and Candy Crush Saga, but I know I can make the change.

Time Management/Schedule/Leadership/Creativity:

I have gathered several books and am in the midst of reading two of them simultaneously. I finished Manage Your Day to Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus & Sharpen Your Creative Mind (longest title ever, maybe), which is filled with short and to the point nuggets of wisdom and advice from some of today's most creative and successful people.

I am in the middle of reading Making Ideas Happen and  Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God's Agenda, which will most likely take the longest to complete but I have it on good authority that it is worth the time and effort.

I have also started to create lists, goals and a daily schedule using Evernote on my iMac and phone. I haven't begun to scratch the surface of what Evernote can do and it is already revolutionizing the way I organize, update and access information.

For file-sharing and cloud storage I have used Dropbox for a couple of years and just recently began using Copy. Both of these apps make storing and sending drafts and finals to clients quite easy and allows for collaboration and group viewing/feedback much more expediently than mailing files on physical data like DVDs, CDs and even thumb drives.

The other practices I have implemented are the avoidance of social media (as much as possible) during working hours and the cessation of using my phone to read and compose email. I have also done my best to put my phone out of arms' reach and to leave it in my pocket when spending time with my wife and/or friends.

I also have a bookmark folder full of creative resources specific to what I do that I can refer to whenever I need a jumpstart of inspiration, applicable knowledge, or professional development.

For those who may be interested, here is a list of some of those websites (specific to video/animation for the most part, but some are for creative practices, generally):

videocopilot.net
aetutsplus.com
churchmediadesign.tv
creationswap.com
99u.com
Behance.net
brainpickings.org
thenounproject.com
sundaymag.tv
creativebloq.com
37signals.com
sxc.hu
churchm.ag
motionscript.com
motionographer.com
vimeo.com
creativelive.com
aescripts.com
lynda.com
fontsquirrel.com
dafont.com

What resources and practices have you found helpful?

Striking an Odd Balance

Over the past week, I have been reading an excellent book a friend lent me about the process, reasoning and practices of a "New Media" designer. The book was written by a man named Hillman Curtis in 2002, and the beauty is that despite the huge leaps in technology since that time, the book is full of information that has not fallen victim to "planned obsolesence." I am still reading, but one thing I have taken away is the important role inspiration plays in the creative process. I have been seeking out inspiration everywhere I look, in everything I hear, and everywhere I go.

It is a beautiful experience, seeking inspiration.

In intervals (usually during renders or after staring at the same frame for an hour with no new ideas), I (with aspiration in my heart) view other works by talented and skilled video producers, graphic designers and motion designers... I read articles, research the old, new and up-and-coming of my field's trends and movements; I pray and wonder at how God, the Artist, created me and this impulse to participate in His work.

Then I get in the car and listen to the news and I am reminded of the fallen world we live in. Yes, I have become one of those I swore never to become. I never understood talk radio (radio is for music, right?), but right now my limited and sporadic drive time is the only opportunity I have to get some current events in (it just occurred to me how many of my friends long for limited and sporadic drive times). So, while listening to the news, I am faced with a high dose of reality, and reality does not seem so inspirational - at least not for creative purposes.

It is an odd balance - living in the midst of creativity and reality, and as hard as I try to separate the two, they, in this world, are interdependent. The two seem to have a symbiotic relationship.

I heard a story yesterday afternoon about a woman who was inspired to write a song after hearing a Gold Star father on a talk radio show discuss his son, who was killed in combat attempting to rescue his fellow soldier. As I listened to an interview with one of the songwriters and the father, it struck me that this is one of the most important uses of creativity; turning tragedy into hope, comfort, empathy and love.

It's been said that all of the best music comes from pain, and there is a truth to that. I'd like to believe the best art (music included) comes as a reaction to intensity of all sorts - emotional, experiential, spiritual. I suppose that means the news I hear as I drive around is inspirational, too - just as it was for the woman who wrote the song. I just have to hear it with different ears.

I researched Hillman Curtis after reading through the first section of his book because I wanted to know what he has been doing recently. I learned that last year, he died of colon cancer. The amazing thing is that after finding this out, the book had so much more to offer. I can't really explain why, but take my word for it.

What does all this mean? I don't know - but in the ebb and flow of urgency, my life is getting caught up in a pretty strong current right now.