The Artisan Blog

Interpretation is a powerful skill that everyone has. We can either interpret things for the good or for the bad. But whatever we interpret, there must be balance. We cannot interpret everything as good and we cannot interpret everything as good. We must find a way to be real with ourselves and to be real to others. In chapter three of The Artisan Soul by Erwin Raphael McManus, he discusses in depth what interpretation actually is. He believes that interpretation is more powerful than truth in a sense. Why? Because our interpretation of certain things can shape our views and thoughts; it can change what we believe or our view of the truth. This is relevant especially in art. How do we interpret different forms of art? As for McManus, his favorite form of art to interpret are movies/films. It takes an amazing amount of skill and talent to create a great movie, and many of the great directors sometimes leave parts of their film open for interpretation. As for me, I think that my f...

The Light , by Common

Most people might not know this, but what you think and speak out loud can determine your future. Your voice has power... and that can either be a good thing or a bad thing, depending how you decide to use it. In the national bestseller book, The Artisan Soul,  author Erwin Raphael McManus focuses on our voice in his second chapter. He takes a deeper dive into how our voice can affect us and the soul. McManus goes very in-depth with personal stories and Bible scripture in order to explain how "voice" connects with the soul and how we can express our voice without even talking, such as through the arts. Through the majority of the chapter, I would agree with McManus' ideas. However, I am going to focus on a single aspect here, perhaps the simplest aspect... which is our actual voice -- our words and why they are important. Proverbs 18:21 states that "life and death are in the power of the tongue," (ESV). Now what does that even mean? Sounds ...

Creativity and success. Does one have to be "creative" in order to be successful? How does one determine creativity? Can creative people and faith/Christianity coincide? These are questions that I have never really thought of much before, but are brought up in national bestseller novel The Artisan Soul by Erwin Raphael McManus. So what do I believe? I believe that everyone is creative in one form or another, whether they are aware of it or not. I believe that I am creative... how creative, I'm not exactly sure or I may never know, but everyone has the gift of being creative; we just use our creativity in different ways. Yet, many Christians or people of faith feel that they cannot be creative. I have grown up my entire life as a Christian and I never felt this way, but I was never discouraged from creativity. To think that many Christians have is somewhat mind boggling. McManus brings up a point in time in early Christianity where creativity, suc...