Mind - Reverence
This week I want to share a quote from a book that I have found particularly useful and am thankful for. As a creative director, part of my job is to know how to accurately identify and articulate good ideas. It is an interesting process—we flow with what inspires us, “throw spaghetti at the wall” so-to-speak, then decide what works best to solve a [usually very specific] creative problem. It is an expansion and contraction process that is iterative, and thus requires a great deal of mental flexibility. Given the nature and speed of the work we produce at an ad agency [especially on accounts where we are the A.O.R. for social media handles], slowing down to intake information is a strategy worthy of practicing. No doubt we have all fallen victim to some sort of brain-rot by now.
“One indicator of inspiration is awe. We tend to take so much for granted. How can we move past disconnection and desensitization to the incredible wonders of nature and human engineering all around us? Most of what we see in the world holds the potential to inspire astonishment if looked at from a less jaded perspective. Train yourself to see the awe behind the obvious. Look at the world from this vantage point as often as possible. Submerge yourself. The beauty around us enriches our lives in so many ways. It is an end in itself. And it sets an example for our own work. We can aim to develop an eye for harmony and balance, as if our creations have always been here, like mountains or feathers.”
― Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being
A subtle shift in perspective—a stepping back and reverence for the beauty in the large and small details—I have found helps when I’m in need of creative inspiration and grounding. Cultivating a deep respect for the natural order of things can make it so that inspiration and awe are never lost.
Body - Community Cookies
Here you’ll find a screenshot of the recipe for my community cookies. I bake these in batches and give them to my neighbors, friends and family, as a way of showing my appreciation, gratitude and love.
Spirit - Saying Grace
My parents decided against baptizing my sister and I, but we still grew up with a few of the traditions that they (both of them Baptist) were raised with, and continue to practice. One of them was saying grace for our food. When we were little it went something like, “god is great, god it good, let us thank him for our food, amen.” As we got older it morphed into, “heavenly father, thank you for the nourishment of our bodies, we humbly give thanks for this food that we are about to receive, in your name we give thanks, amen.”
Now, I am not religious, and I definitely poopoo’d this throughout the entirety of my 20s because I felt like I was being forced to participate in something that I did not sign up for. It felt blasphemous and like I was doing something disrespectful, especially because I wasn’t baptized and I’ve never been a huge fan of the church. However the older I get, and more specifically in the last year or so, I’ve come to a place where this practice has just naturally reintegrated itself into my daily life.
I sit down with my food, and before I eat, I say thank you. Because having gratitude for things we do not necessary deserve, but that are provided to us in abundance, is important to me. It now feels disrespectful not to say grace. It dawned on me that I should be doing this for more than just the food I consume to nourish my body. I say thank you for the hot water that I have, as I know not everyone has access to that luxury, for example. Doing this has made me realize just how abundant my life actually is. The act of saying thank you out loud, of saying “grace”, has significantly improved my life in ways that I was not expecting. And with that I say thank you, readers, for your support and your readership.