Tag / spirituality

by Nathan Coumbe

An Artist’s Prayer

O God, the Great Creator,

You created me in your image,

Therefore I am to be creative like you.

I know now that I am simply a vessel

For your creative energy.

Help me each day to serve you,

To let this creative force flow

Through me,

So I can make the world

A better and more beautiful place,

For myself and all who inhabit it with me.

Lead me and let me,

Serve as a light,

A beacon to others who wish

To be creative themselves.

Let my artistry shine through

in all work in which I have a hand.

O God, the Great Creator, 

I promise to take care of the quantity.

I trust you to take care of the quality.

I know now that I am loved,

That I was created to live

A prosperous and creative life.

For the gifts of love, life, and creativity,

I thank you.

by Nathan Coumbe

A Note to My Readers

To all my wonderful readers:

I apologize for my long absence from the blog. I’ve been on something of a publishing sabbatical for the last couple of months. During that time, I have done a deep dive into my creative self; I’ve been working to heal old wounds, develop my self-awareness, and reconnect with God, artistry, and the creative energy with which we have all been blessed. In short: I’ve put myself through a process of creative recovery as the wonderful Julia Cameron calls it.

This process has brought me back to the blog and what I hope to do with it. For the longest time, it has been my writings on what I’ve learned at work, in my reading, and by listening to great teachers. I’ve decided that I want a different focus: I want this blog to be a place for Creatives to come when they need inspiration, help, or collaboration; guidance on how to make a life with their art; and how to rekindle their creativity as I have so diligently worked to do myself. 

As such, you will notice different content posted on here going forward. Some days, there may be photographs; other days might have long-form essays on specific topics. You will see more music posted here, perhaps even some poetry and stories. I will continue to publish educational articles as well: information to help writers, artists, musicians, and anyone else who considers himself or herself a Creative, regardless of the field or medium. 

I will also be working to better organize this blog, so that different types of work can more easily be found – essays will have an essay section; music will have a music section, etc. 

Most importantly:

I want this to become a collaborative community, one where artists can see others’ work, contribute their own, and feel supported in the process. As such, I would like to feature work you wish to share with others here on this blog using my platform (with all credit going to you, of course). It might be a different person each week; it might be the same few people each week. It depends on who is willing to show up, share, and contribute to the community. 

This will be a place for art, a place for thinking, a place for creativity, collaboration, and connection with others. It will be a place for love, generosity, spirituality, and goodness. 

I will continue to encourage, enlighten, and educate each day for as long as I am able. I hope you will continue to follow me on this journey and contribute along the way.

Sincerely,

Nathan

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by Nathan Coumbe

The peculiarity of curiosity

Human beings are weird…

I had a conversation yesterday with my cousin, Erin, in which we discussed curiosity and the peculiar inclinations each one of us possesses.

I believe Robert Greene needs to be quoted at length here:

“[We each have] a deep and powerful inclination toward a particular subject.

This inclination is a reflection of a person’s uniqueness…it is a scientific fact that genetically, every one of us is unique; our exact genetic makeup has never happened before and will never be repeated. This uniqueness is revealed to us through the preferences we innately feel for particular activities or subjects of study. Such inclinations can be toward music or mathematics, certain sports or games, solving puzzle-like problems, tinkering and building, or playing with words.”

– Robert Greene, Mastery

I vividly remember discovering my own inclination: I was 9 years old, in the library of my elementary school, looking for a book to read. I picked up The Journal of Scott Pendleton Collins by Walter Dean Myers and was hooked. I am not exaggerating when I say that that one (seemingly) random book changed the course of my life. I became a voracious reader, taking a deep dive down the rabbit hole of World War II history, attempting to put my hands on any and every book I could on the subject.

By the age of 10, I was reading college-level historical monographs, encouraged by both my parents and my teachers. This interest gradually spread out until I was gorging myself on stories of American history, colonial times, European battlefields, and ancient civilizations.

Why?

Why is it that reading one book propelled me into so an extensive study of a particular field? Why am I so drawn to this subject, and yet I care nothing for sciences (unless I’m looking at them from a historical perspective) or cooking or any other number of subjects? Why am I drawn to history when another person is delighted by math or chemistry? And yet another person is drawn to space, theology; to beauty and hair care; or to art and photography.

I don’t have a true answer to the question. It is simply amusing to me. We can be so alike, and yet each of us seems to have a curiosity, sometimes more than one, which separates us from every other human being that is or ever has been.

All I can think is that we have been uniquely created by God, the universe, the Higher Self, or whichever spiritual ideal in which you believe. We have each been created with a unique curiosity that, if satisfied, if given the opportunity to develop enough, will help us fulfill our purpose on Earth and make it a better place for those curious beings that come after us.

I hope that you will follow your own curiosity, wherever it leads. It is quite possibly the most necessary thing you can do with your life.