Keep a quote journal online or the old-fashioned way.

Quotes here at Light for Creative Soul are selected from a broad range of authors to inspire us in our creative pursuits. My passion is to build community and champion writers, artists, and all creatives to follow their God-given dreams.

But here’s a little disclaimer: My use of different author quotes does not necessarily imply endorsement of anyone’s lifestyle, faith perspective, or complete body of work. Ah, but that should go without saying, right? I simply select a passage that rings true and hope it stirs your soul.  Now, if you have a favorite quote or author, please – share with us in the comment section!

“Go into the arts. I’m not kidding.

The arts are not a way to make a living.

They are a very human way of making life more bearable.

Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake.

Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories.

Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem.

Do it as well as you possibly can.

You will get an enormous reward.

You will have created something.”

~Kurt Vonnegut

For other uplifting quotes, check out my Quote Attic

“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.” ~ Pope Paul XXIII

I don’t believe in Murphey’s Law, but the month of May pushed me to the edge. Staring down the precipice, I whimpered like a dog: “Why can’t something go right?” Come on, enough already.

You’ve stared down that precipice, too. Things beyond our control can work us over, give us the “beat-down.” Emergencies, financial ruin, relationship pain – there’s no end to the list of potential dream-squashers. Life can be so chronic, or hit us like an avalanche. People either stand by us or look the other way. But if we let our dreams sink, we’re tempted to lock the drawer on creativity forever. Sometimes we wake up in the morning and the only logical thing to do is to yank the covers back over our head.

So went the month of May. But every creative person experiences setback, sooner or later. It’s not the end of the world.

Come up for air. Keep going. Slow is okay.

God put a little somethin’ in my spirit the other day. No doubt He felt my pain, my fear, my utter exasperation. “Don’t shut down. Don’t shut the world out. The tide will change eventually; besides, My grace is sufficient.”  I’m learning to live with circumstances that may never change. I will (eventually) accept that and move on.  Choices – it’s all about choices. Grace enables us to persevere with confidence and renewed vigor, even if takes a little time. I’m accepting the setback for what is is – temporary. Then I smile. Because writing about the state of overwhelm is easier than navigating it in the face of great odds. But I have a Helper.

So, don’t cry for me, Argentina. It ain’t over til it’s over.

Do you recall how you overcame a major setback? Did it change the direction of your dreams? Did someone speak life to the situation and encourage you? I’d love to hear about your life and dreams.

~ ~ ~

1. I’m afraid to fly and usually suffer some ridicule when folks find out.

2. My father insisted on naming me after his mother when I was born. I didn’t fully embrace my name until he died.

3. But he didn’t give me a middle name. He said “Victoria” was long enough.

4. I don’t dress to impress. I’m a tee-shirt and jeans kinda gal.

5. In 4th grade I wrote the “never-ending skit” for Halloween. The teacher let me select classmates to be in the play but since it had no ending, they had to make it up.

5. In 5th grade, I started writing a mini-novel. No, I didn’t finish it, either, but friends grabbed it and passed it around. That was a little embarrassing.

6. I’ve layered my own hair for over thirteen years now. Same boring haircut but it’s free.

7. My childhood heroines were Amelia Earhart, Florence Nightingale, and Louise Mae Alcott.

8. I’ve never been to Disney World.

9. I keep all the cards my friends and family give me because I can’t throw them away.

10.  I don’t have visible wrinkles yet and I’m 56. Staying out of the sun probably helped.

11.  I’m a people-person, not an animal-person. But animals are cute.

12. My favorite color is black. No, seriously. I love it.

13. Growing up, I was a member of 4-H Club. My projects were Dairy Judging (cows) and Health. I actually won medals.

15. My youngest son taught me HTML code many years ago because he was tired of helping me with my website.

16. I actually fear public speaking and prefer writing. Still, I’ve spoken in front of large groups.

17. I used to love summer school. I took fun classes to get away from housework.

18. Giving birth to my last child (11 lbs. 4 oz) nearly killed me. Really.

19. I once sang a solo in the church choir. Funny what you’ll do when the Spirit moves you.

20. Dark chocolate with almonds is a little chunk of heaven on earth.

21. Excessive use of exclamation points is a bit annoying.

21. I never saw the leaves on the trees or raindrops on the windowpane until I was fitted for eyeglasses in the 10th grade. Before that I squinted a lot.

22. I can see clearly now; the rain is gone.

23. My first car was a red Pontiac Firebird with an overhead cam engine. I forget the year but remember how it felt behind the wheel.

24. I’ve been thrown off a horse more than once. That taught me.

25.  I like to sit near the front at the movies. It started when I was nearsighted in school but I still do it after all these years.

26.  Beautiful art affects me emotionally. I love to study the lives of artists.

27. I could eat avocados every day. Sometimes I do.

28. I will listen to a person talk for hours, even if I’m bored to tears. Eventually, though, I have to go to the bathroom.

29.  I’ve been a bookworm since first grade. Usually I’m reading 3-4 books at the same time.

30.  I used to bake my own bread from scratch.

31.  Now I just avoid it (gluten-free, grain-free).

32. When I’m stressed out, I go for long drives around Atlanta.

33.  When I’m passionate about a subject, I’m told I get very animated.

34.  I have a southern accent, y’all.

35.  I hate red roses.

36.  I love calla lilies.

37.  I get that dead-behind-the-eyes feeling when religious people drone on and on. Platitudes do the same thing to me when I just need someone to care.

38. I said good-bye to religion, but I’m deeply spiritual.

39. I’ve emptied hundreds of bedpans as a young nurse so talking about body functions will never gross me out.

40. I can flat-out spell. But Math hates me.

41. I wrote this list of random things because my brain can’t squeeze out a real blog post. Ah, but you probably figured that out by now:-)

~ Tell me something about yourself! ~

What you write matters: 

“Don’t be seduced into thinking that that which does not make a profit is without value.” ~ Arthur Miller, American playwright (1915-2005)

Don’t hide your light under a bushel: 

“Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What’s a sun-dial in the shade?” ~ Benjamin Franklin

Give yourself time to ponder and dawdle:

“The imagination needs moodling, long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering. If good ideas do not come at once, or for a long time, do not be troubled at all…Put down the little ideas however insignificant they are. But do not feel, anymore, guilty about idleness and solitude.” ~ Brenda Ueland, American writer (1891-1986).

Don’t be afraid to be yourself:  

“You can play it safe or you can speak your mind. Why venture into the public space of readers and audiences if your goal is to keep your real thoughts private? If you are bothering to write, say what you mean.” ~ Eric Maisel, Ph.D.

Michelangelo devoted the last 20 years of his life to art for the glory of God.

What a busy two weeks! My apologies for the pause. I’ve gone back to school fulltime and it’s been an adjustment – but more on that later. I’m excited! This may be the youth of my old age but we’re never too old to dream, learn, or grow.

Time to draw from the Quote Attic. I’ve saved tons of quotes regarding the source of inspiration from different artists. Maybe a couple will surprise you:

“In Medieval Christianity, the artist was understood to be the vehicle through which God’s creative inspiration found form. Through his disciplined training and craftmanship, the medieval Christian artist brought the implanted vision to reality, cognizant that the inspiration and the artwork were gifts from God, and that the artist was merely the vehicle for God’s inspiration. Therefore, the artist took no individual credit but rather identified himself as a craftsman, not as originator or creator.” ~ Diane Apostolos-Cappadona and Lucinda Ebersole, Women, Creativity, and the Arts

“Something sacred, that’s it. It’s a word that we should be able to use, but people would take it in the wrong way. You ought to be able to say a painting is as it is, with its capacity to move us, because it is as though it were touched by God.” ~ Picasso

“We [U2] have to write songs that raise the temperature of the room and find words for feelings you can’t express. And then, as Quincy Jones says, you wait for God to walk through the door. Because in the end, craft isn’t enough.” ~ Bono, lead singer, U2 rock band

“Virtually every writer I know would rather be a musician because music gives pleasure as we never can…I’m Honory President of the American Humanist Association, but I simultaneously say that music is the proof of the existence of God.” ~ Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., American writer

“Even denying God, to serve music, or painting, or words is a religious activity, whether or not the conscious mind is willing to accept that fact.” ~ Madeleine L’Engle, writer

“Songwriters, choreographers, playwrights, painters, and many others have accomplished much that has had impact without ever asking for help from or consciously collaborating with the Holy Spirit. This does not blow our theology; to the contrary, it points out the great love of God, who pours out not only His great gifts “on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matt.5:45), gifts of talent and other blessings, but also basic gifts that are so easily overlooked–nature, sunlight, the air we breathe, the functioning of our bodies.” ~ J. Scott McElroy, Finding Divine Inspiration

Not all artists and writers acknowledge God’s influence in their creative process. Madeleine L’Engle once said that if an artist denies God in his life, his work still affirms him since “all true art is incarnational.”

Oh, to be a conduit of Life, whatever creative path we take!

Compassion burnout can leave us overwhelmed and exhausted.

Having battled my own state of overwhelm the last couple weeks, I couldn’t blog until a few issues were faced and handled. As Martha Stewart  says, “it’s a good thing.”

I learned about a phenomena called “secondary Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome,” a condition that intensifies as we’re immersed into other people’s traumas, emergencies, or chronic ills. Let’s not get too technical. Call it compassion fatigue, caregiver stress, or burn-out. When we continuously care and invest in others, it’s not long before we slip into emotional/physical exhaustion if we’re not resting and getting adequate support for ourselves. Late in life, I’m still learning this. Sometimes the stress I’m facing feels worse than when I worked on a medical unit where half my patients were terminal. A temperament that takes on the burdens of the world soon crashes under its weight.

Ah, but we forget – we can only do as God energizes us.

I, for one, am practicing the fine art of calm this week. After a trip to the emergency room and cardiologist, I’m resting well. It’s okay to pull back, regroup, recuperate. God is perfectly able to help the very people we think won’t survive without us.

So what is this secondary post traumatic stress syndrome? People like nurses, social workers, therapists, military vets’ wives – caregivers of any kind, really – are subject to the same symptoms as the ones they care for. Furthermore, if we’ve come undone, it might be a sign we’ve yet to deal with our own stuff.

Here’s an interesting quote:

“You can be traumatized by exposure to other people’s traumatic stories, energy, and emotions. Don’t let your life be overwhelmed by others’ traumas, and be sure to get plenty of support and help for the feelings that come up for you in working with other peoples’ traumas. If you have had traumas in your own life that you are not finished dealing with — and most of us do — then you can expect that the memories and issues and feelings associated with them will be retriggered by working with other peoples’ traumas. Get help sooner rather than later in dealing with whatever comes up for you. It can be a great opportunity and lead to greater health and healing for you as well as the people you are helping!” ~ Ed Schmoochler, PhD.

Sounds wise. We may not face daily trauma, but continual stress wears us down. Some of us have forgotten how to care for ourselves. If we linger too long in our “situation room,” it’s easy to get sucked into that black vortex of despair. With that in mind, I’m sharing simple tips to ground us – things I needed to do just last week:

* Acknowledge you’re sinking. We’re talking physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion here. The first step is telling yourself the truth instead of ignoring the symptoms.

* Take a break. If you’ve hit the wall – even if you’re not quite there – pull back and take care of yourself NOW. The world won’t stop spinning. Pray. Let go of guilt. You’ve heard it before – if you don’t take care of yourself, you’re no good to anyone else.

* Ask for help and talk to someone. Let it out. Give yourself permission to be human. God helps me many times in the absence of others, and sometimes He sends a compassionate friend who is able to listen, care, and hear from the heart.

This isn’t all I have to say on the subject. Before the next post on handling “overwhelm,” would you share with me whatever’s stressing you lately? Something weighing on your heart? Are you caring for others full tilt with no support? I’d like to hear from you.

Part One: Navigating the State of Overwhelm