Life after Art

“Humans have never lived purely functional lives, even when life was most difficult, when our survival was most precarious.  We are compelled to create.  Humans mysteriously create things with no practical function or purpose other than to be beautiful.”

This is one of many nuggets of truth that stuck out to me after finishing up Matt Appling’s new book, Life after Art: What you Forgot about Life & Faith since you Left the Art Room.  I see that truth in my own life.  Man, when all my cards were down, the lowest of the lows, I wrote.  I wrote long, profanity-laced prayers to God.  I wrote long, nonsensical journal entries.  I rambled on my blog.  I pushed out crappy 1st drafts of my memoir. I wrote angry diatribes.  Life was crap, yet I was compelled to create.

“And when God created the universe, He filled it with billions of stars, which I imagine humans will never see.  He has create endless wonders that we will never discover.  Throughout the universe, trillions of sunrises and sunsets happen with no one to enjoy them, except for God Himself.  You may call the universe a rather excessive bit of creative opulence.  Whoever needed a universe so big and beautiful?  Apparently God loves creating beauty enough that He just could not help Himself, even knowing that no one would ever see it… I suspect humanity’s drive to create is one of the keys to what is means to be “made in the image of God.” The same drive for creating that God has in His heart, He placed in the first human heart.”

If you’ve lost your sense of creativity or basic artistic enjoyment, I’d highly recommend this helpful book.  I’d also highly recommend it to anyone in a creative field and especially parents of Littles.  I loved that each chapter ends with helpful questions to process the previous chapter. Questions like: “what legacy am I building?  What will I leave behind that will tell people about my life?  Am I creating timeless things that will outlast me?”  Additionally, each chapter has a reflection on a creative giant like Jim Henson…little snippets of the story of people who made Matt’s childhood richer & more beautiful.  I love those stories!

If you let it, Matt’s book can bring some healing balm on your weakened, rejected, soured, artistic heart.  LET IT! I appreciated the perspective of this book so much.  As someone pursuing a life in the arts, it was just what the Dr. ordered.

You can watch the book trailer in Matt’s owns words here.

Happy Reading!

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*Disclosure: I was given an advanced copy of Life After Art to review.  Affiliate links included.  All opinions are my own.*