Author: Jeff Hendricks

Posted on

The Zen and Creativity of Lego

Believe it or not, this post isn’t going to be about Lego bricks.

I rewind back 35 years and remember building with Lego. The interesting and creative thing about Lego bricks is that they were just basic shapes, but you could assemble them in any way you wanted- sometimes in ways they weren’t intended. But the only limit to what you could build is how many bricks you had, and your imagination.

Today, there are every kind of Lego kit, with all kinds of special pieces, decals, and instructions. You don’t need any creativity to buy a Harry Potter or Star Wars Lego kit and assemble it. It just requires following instructions, and patience.

In the modern “Creative World” there are tons of people cranking out content, but there are precious few people that understand how building blocks of creativity work.

Let me explain:

Music, as we know it today, is made up of building blocks. There are certain fundamental parts to a song that you can assemble different ways, but in the end, they’re what makes something a song. Things like tempo, time signature, instrumentation, key, melody, lyrics, and such are uniquely identifiable parts of a song, but don’t make a song by themselves.

Writing is much the same way. If you’re writing a fiction story, say a sci-fi novel, there are certain things it’s going to have in it. Dialogue, main characters, secondary characters, plot, setting, and so forth. You can change out any of these elements and it becomes a different story- but it’s still recognizable as a story.

If you examine any one of these building blocks by itself, it doesn’t make up a complete work. But they’re necessary to make the whole. Continue reading “The Zen and Creativity of Lego”

Posted on

Passion or Practicality?

As a Creative, the phrase “Follow your passion!” is both really good, and really horrible advice. Most of the things we’re passionate about are not money-making ideas, because most creatives aren’t passionate about money- we care about art, music, literature, and improving people’s lives in aesthetic ways. This severely limits what we have the resources to do.

The flip side to this, “just give people what they want” and “if it makes money, it’s good” are components of what’s called Pragmatism. Record companies are notorious for this, as are large publishing houses. They make vapid pop music, because vapid pop music is what sells. “If it makes money, how bad could it be?”

Well, if you’re the artist trying to make their vision become reality, it could be disastrous. Continue reading “Passion or Practicality?”

Posted on

What Is Church?

I recently read through the book “Pagan Christianity?” and was struck by how much of what we call “modern church” is actually borrowed from ancient non-church traditions, including sermons, clergy, and (you guessed it) modern worship music.

“Does that mean we shouldn’t sing worship songs?” No, that’s not what it means.

What it illustrates is the fact that we are so removed from our traditions, we don’t even question why we (the church) do what we do. Pragmatism abounds, and popularity seems to be the dominant requirement for whether or not a church does something.

Jesus wasn’t popular. Continue reading “What Is Church?”

Posted on

Is There Really Hope?

Recently, I was privy to a conversation about the rising economic and political crisis between the United States and everyone else, and it got me thinking.

Can we really be hopeful in today’s society? A lot of evidence points to everything in this world inevitably falling apart. But do we, as Christians, really have to worry about it?

Well, yes and no.

A friend of mine used to say “Some people are so heavenly minded, they’re of no earthly good.” What I think he meant by this is that people can focus so intently on being Godly (and looking towards Heaven) that they can’t be bothered with practical, day-to-day issues. If you tell someone “I’m really struggling right now with this issue” and the only answer they ever give you is “You just need Jesus!” that’s not actually helpful at all. Yes, in the greater sense, we all need Jesus… but I need practical help with a practical problem right now, and praying isn’t going to miraculously fix my hurting back, or my relationship problems, or fill my car’s gas tank.

The Truth

We live in a very broken, sinful world. There’s nothing we can do that will change that. We suffer and groan under the weight of imperfect mortality, and all the pain and joy that comes along with that. Just praying for something doesn’t automatically make it happen. According to the Bible, people since the Garden of Eden are not inherently good. And we live in a society that reflects that. Continue reading “Is There Really Hope?”

Posted on

Practice What You Preach

If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you probably know that I am very enamored with Minimalism, especially Tech Minimalism.

I have several reasons for this, but mainly it comes down to Privacy, and Mental Clutter.

If I preach against Big Tech, but I’m still using their platforms, does that make me a hypocrite? Yeah, kind of.

Problem is, how do you get out of it once you’re in? And I’m here to tell you, it isn’t easy- by design. Continue reading “Practice What You Preach”

Posted on

Purpose Redux

Over the last week, I’ve been examining my Core Values, and let me tell you, it’s been harder than I expected it to be. You might think “What’s so hard about writing down what you value?” Well, give it a try, and see for yourself.

Ultimately, it boils down to what things drive your decisions and relationships, and whether or not your daily actions line up with where you want to go, and who you want to be.

As I wrote about previously, it’s easy to get caught up in feeling like your worth is tied into what you can do. But sometimes that’s out of your control, so why should you feel inferior for not being able to do something you had no control over? Continue reading “Purpose Redux”

Posted on

ADHD and Faith

I have spent my entire life not fitting in. When you realize as a child that you’re not like everyone else, it changes the way you think. It leads you down very dark roads, constantly searching for something that will make you feel “normal,” and never finding it.

I’ve been fighting against ADHD my entire life. For decades I saw it as something I had to “work around” or “learn to live with.” I was also smarter than everyone else in my classes (that’s not a brag- I just was). All the school system was geared towards the average learning child, which means it wasn’t suited to me at all. I was constantly bored, ostracized, and miserable. The only time I was happy was in music class. For some reason, my brain absorbed music like a sponge, and I had no problem focusing on it. And then I grew up.

Continue reading “ADHD and Faith”

Posted on

Don’t Use Tools As An Excuse

Most people consider themselves “creative” in some form or another. It could be drawing, music, dancing, whatever. And a lot of those creative people use tools to make their creations- paint, instruments, dance shoes, and so forth. They’re the “tools of the trade” so to speak.

Truthfully though, a lot of people don’t create nearly as much as they could because they don’t feel like they have tools that are “good enough.” They might want to produce an album, but figure they don’t have the “industry standard” ProTools, or even a decent computer to run it on. No good studio microphones, no expensive tube preamps, maybe not even a decent guitar.

But defining your creativity by what you don’t have is akin to saying your knowledge is limited because there’s things you don’t know. At some point, you will learn things and expand your knowledge, but just because you don’t know something doesn’t mean you’re not knowledgeable about anything. And saying you can’t be creative because you don’t have the best tools for the job is both wrong, and counterproductive to your development as a Productive Creative. Continue reading “Don’t Use Tools As An Excuse”

Posted on

When Things Get Difficult

There are times when you will go through the most unimaginable trials. These are the times when you find out what really drives you.

For the last 18 months, I’ve been going through wave after wave of difficulties, each one progressively harder than the last. I’m halfway expecting to come up on a “Final Boss” and win some sort of game, and then the credits will run and I can finally rest.

“Why so down?” you might ask. You’d be right in assuming I’m struggling with things- it hasn’t been easy. I’m currently writing this blog post on my phone as I wait to be allowed back into my state. We just survived Hurricane Ida, which directly hit my hometown. There’s massive wind damage everywhere. There probably won’t be power there for weeks. I have no way of knowing how bad the damage to my house is.

It doesn’t seem like it was that long ago we were evacuating for Hurricane Katrina. But 16 years to the day, and here we are.

Everyone will face some sort of storm in their lives, and I’m no exception. Mine are oftentimes physical storms, but the principal is the same- you find out what you’re really made of, and your deficits are quickly revealed.

Everyone has shortcomings. But most people are content to just admit they do, and go on with life, never knowing what they could do or be if they’d just admit they need help.

“I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.“
Psalms 121:1‭-‬2