The Advantage of Blind Faith

I set out for Hollywood and arrived. See proof. See the pained expression. I look that way squinting into the sun and leaning back enough to get the Hollywood sign in the picture. I arrived at Hollywood but someone just told me that I missed California. I sit in Hollywood, Oregon a subcommunity in Portland.

Often in life we end up someplace other than we planned. The years pass, the cynicism grows, and we get beat up along the path toward the wrong place. I have always liked the line in the movie "Seabiscuit" where Smith the trainer says to Howard the horse owner, "You don't throw away a whole life just because it's beat up a little." Smith understood that with horses, but later in the movie their jockey, Spiderman (Toby Mcquire), Red Pollard, admits that he has lost vision in one eye. Smith wants to throw him out on his ear. Howard takes him by the shoulder and gently says, "You don't throw away a whole life just because it's beat up a little."

The road to Hollywood has bodies strewn along it's shoulders. We encounter life. Creativity needs nurturing and usually goes first along with our innocence and imagination and our faith. It takes effort to develop it and faith to keep it. I will show some unusual honesty here. I have trouble keeping the faith in regards to my creativity. Hey, even Stephen King had thrown his books in the trash. His wife fished out Carrie and sent it in to a publisher. King had already done it before. For some odd fate reason, the publisher took it this time. Even Stephen King had lost faith in himself.

What keeps me going? Sometime I give up and go watch a movie or worse. I keep coming back. Why? One, I think God has called me to this and has given me some gifting--that's the way you say it if your from Minnesota or were taught not to have confidence. Confidence and pride meant the same thing to my parent's generation. And so I struggle to believe the calling or the gift.

Sometimes it helps to go back and read something published. Believe it or not I have published. I recently reread some stuff I wrote years ago, and had to admit that "it was pretty good." Sometimes it helps to hear other authors at a book reading. I'm in need of that again. It helps to just keep writing. It helps to dream a little about success even if it takes imagination. I dream of my first book tour. This blog helps me keep going. I know that at least I write and hopefully develop a following.

I have learned that you cannot and must not try to get faith from others. They probably don't know their calling nor do they have faith in that calling. How can you expect them to have faith in you?

You know, it helps to have "blind faith." The Bible says, "Faith is the evidence of things not seen." It helps to go blind because the blindness that prevents you for seeing success is the same blindness that prevents you from seeing the obstacles to your success. Use blindness to your advantage. Turn that blind eye to obstacles, failures, limitations, temptations, and past mistakes. Why do I choose to see failure and refuse to see success? If I pretend blindness, why not live blind to it all?

I have rambled. Today's blog shows me processing during a downtime in the writing life. Obviously, I'm writing and so it evidently worked this little talk with myself. I hope it helped you. Keep living creatively. God made you that way.