Story 2011
Last week I loaded up a car with my friends Justin and Kelly, and took a road trip to Chicago for the Story conference.
Story is a unique event for creatives in the church. I have to say I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It was the best experience at a conference I have ever had.
It had nothing to do with the quality of speakers, the music, or the free Nolan Bag filled with swag, though all of that was incredible. It was the people. There was a spirit of welcoming and a sense of belonging that filled the whole event, and it was truly special.
There were so many wonderful experiences at Story, to sum it all up doesn’t seem possible. There were unexpected friendships, soul-stirring discussions over deep-dish pizza, and mind-altering insights, which my mind, in all it’s abstract wanderings, is still trying to process.
A good conference should expand community, and that’s what Story did. Meeting other like-minded people, I was inspired to share more, to listen more, to write more, to be more intentional and patient in the creation process, and, to make a movie.
The last few days I’ve been letting the whole experience marinate. My brain was full. It needed to digest.
Yesterday I spent five hours in the car driving to the Outer Banks, and I came to a conclusion about the conference.
There are three reactions an artist can have toward others’ work:
- Envy – a feeling of discontentment and covetousness with regard to what others have created
- Aspiration – inspiration from what others have created, and a healthy (or unhealthy) motivation to be a part, or create more yourself.
- Celebration – simply just to enjoy, share, and celebrate, with no agenda.
Celebration is what I felt at Story.
I use to go to conferences with a little sense of anxiety. Feeling the pressure to meet a certain person, to sell myself, to hand out all my business cards and make the trip worth while. This time I decided I was going to just be. Build relationships. Soak it in. And see what the Lord does.
I gave away two business cards, because only two people said, “do you have a card?”
There are stories that need to be told. But you might not be the one to tell it. And that’s okay. Embrace what is created by others. Support it. Share it. Celebrate it. There’s time. Soon it will be your turn to create, and you will need the same support. If creatives in the church grasp this mentality, we will create amazing, amazing things.
Because we can do more together than we can on our own.
Never Underestimate A Good Pen
True, This! —
Beneath the rule of men entirely great,
The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold
The arch-enchanters wand! — itself a nothing! —
But taking sorcery from the master-hand
To paralyse the Cæsars, and to strike
The loud earth breathless! — Take away the sword —
States can be saved without it!
-Edward Bulwer-Lytton
I have come to accept that most of my writing will suck. But for a few great ideas, you have to come up with a million. Hitchcock made a lot of mediocre movies. 90% of Emerson’s work was never published. Etc.
Most of us never read Emerson anyway.
Record ideas, lessons, trials, wins, losses.
Write tales. Write songs. Draw.
Remember.
Get a pen that inspires you. For me, gel ink, the kind that makes a mark with the lightest touch. None of this ball point garbage (but that’s just me).
Don’t be afraid to spend good money on a pen.
Choose wisely, and be careful not to lose it.