A Little More Faith: Prayer and Focus

I have been in an endless loop for weeks now. I'm beginning to think that depression and anxiety are an important process in the creative mind. Not the best thought to embrace but I'm embracing it. I think there are many processes happening in the brain when inspiration becomes something more kinetic, there is an intense feeling of everything, a screaming of all your senses at the same time which is not easily deciphered. This is just from my experience.

Now for the good news, I have no radio in my car, yes I have an iPhone, but I have a rule for myself, no music, phone calls or distractions in the morning. The drive to work is for prayer. I actually say three prayers out loud and try to focus on God alone.

Unfortunately when I am in a severely depressed or distracted state, it's hard to even concentrate on the prayer itself. Well, in the last four days, after a weekend of calm and relaxation I finally had a breakthrough. Not only does prayer connect you with what ever your source for strength and healing is, for me it also eliminates, even for just a moment, the anxiety that comes with depression.

The last four days, I have not only felt a presence of God, I have also experienced people that have shared things with me, strangers in line, friends, family. I have realized a connection and understanding with complete strangers that is hard to explain.

In the midst of all of this prayer, ideas have become concrete. Clear images of what I need to paint, ideas that have been so vivid and complete I had to pull off the road and write them down. This is the first of a series about a strengthening of my faith if not simply a reconnecting with it.

In the last four days, I have a children's book that is written and illustrated in my mind, a collection of paintings of favorite garden plants, two cartoon characters to create and accompany comic strips that have been dormant for many months, ten new blog posts about religion, three new posts about leadership and current events. I have also begun painting a series that is still in the works.

Sounds a bit manic I know, you can connect it to what ever purpose or reason that makes sense to you but I believe in divine intervention. Many time he is there, I just don't see him or acknowledge him. With the way current events are going, I think we could all use a little more faith.