Renaissance Soul

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So as I stated in previous posts, I sometimes feel like a hybrid of many interests that I love: sort of having my feet in 12 different interests and feeling the pressure in society to pick just one passion. But, I have noticed that when I just focus on art or the world of education, I feel this giant void of passion and community in my life that Austin Kleon of Steal Like an Artist calls "a phantom limb pain.

After writing that post, I started reading Renaissance Soul: Life Design for People with Too Many Passions to Pick Just One. This book was written for people like me that feel like the narrowing down of 12 passions to just one feels like the world's idea of a cruel joke. However, in the book the author educates the reader on finding the four interests in his life that the reader should pursue further through a series of exercises in the book:

Here is my list:

1. Networking in the art and education/technology world for opportunities to learn more
2. Study for my Art Education Certification Test to fully engage and blend opportunities in both the art world and education world
3. Find time to photograph
4. Time with my community

It's funny, after I made this list I realized how much my friends and family were already embedded in my Renaissance style life. I do art with my friends. I photograph my family. I have developed community with other artists and teachers. I am friends with teachers of the visually impaired and technology specialists. I did these things the whole time I was worried about picking just one thing. My 4 passions are starting to seep together into a beautiful mosaic called meaning and purpose with my family and best friends as shining stars in the process. They are in it with me.

Anyway, the more I have tried to put my life into different categories, the more I realize when I bring my community (family and friends) into my passions with me, the more alive I feel. :)

January 17-24 Self-Portraits: Aspects of Community and Living Connected

The self-portrait photo placed at the bottom of the collage is of Lisa Guillon who blogs and writes One Big Luv. One of my favorite parts of being a photographer and artist is self-portrait photography. This is why I am super excited to be taking on my 2013 photographic challenge of photographing myself everyday of this year. How can I tell the story of 2013 through self-portraiture? I will be sharing my self-portraits from the week every Friday. I invite you to e-mail me your self portraits at julieann.johnson00@gmail.com throughout the week and I will post them here with mine. No matter what, self-portraits tell a story about the beautiful you that exists that very moment you hit the button.

Self Portraits are a reflection of every person that has ever made a dent in my life.  I love how this self-portrait series is slowly and organically building into a fun mosaic of amazing self-portraits of friends in Kansas City/St. Louis and my fellow creative blogging friends.

But it got me thinking of the idea of community in my own life again....

Yesterday my house was a literal revolving door of people from various communities in my life that wanted to come over to see Asher and hang out. I feel blessed to be a part of communities in this city and others where people long to live a life together, celebrate with us, and just be present when things are hard. Making the choice to live in community is paramount to growing in God and as people. To quote Bob Goff, author of Love Does, "God reveals himself to us by giving us each other." I have been feeling that 100% during this chapter of my life. However, it also reminds me that good things build slowly and organically. This is hard for people like me who get impatient and want to feel instant gratification. I forget that the struggle is a part of the story. I remember some seriously dark, isolating days when we first moved to St. Louis from Seattle. Coming from a community where you feel known and loved to a place where you feel unknown and disconnected, you begin to savor days like today-when you feel roots of your community go deeper.