Work, Art, and Identity

We've been on vacation! We spent a wonderful two days in Hilton Head with the marvelous ocean and while I even thought of blog post topics while we were gone (and took notes; like I would remember otherwise) I did not do any writing. Too busy splashing in the ocean to write. But I did want to share some thoughts that have been inhabiting my mind lately. 

First some thoughts on work. Our generation is afraid of hard work. Run to your work and give it your best. Mike Rowe has some great thoughts on work with his S.W.E.A.T. pledge.  What if we showed up every day to do our work that way? 

Secondly, what about your art? Right now, my art is definitely piano and writing. I would like to expand that later but that's where it sits now. A friend of mine had a quote on Twitter that I loved. He said, "The most important thing about art is to do the work. If you sit down every day & try, you art will get better.  Are you devoting any time to your art? 

And third, where are you finding your identity? I've been searching this one out for a few weeks and will definitely be sharing a blog post about it soon. I want to find my identity in Christ and not what I do or what anybody else thinks. Cary Schmidt has an excellent sermon series titled "Thrive" that I've been listening to and it has really expanded what I was already thinking. I believe everyone would benefit from listening to these sermons. (The series is titled Thrive and you can scroll down through their feed to Thrive 1 and follow them all the way to the top.)

As important as I think work and art are I can't find my identity in either of those. It can only come from Christ. What if the work or the art was taken from me? What if it doesn't achieve what I hope? It cannot be the source of my identity. Only Christ. 

What have you been puzzling over lately? Are you finding any answers?