When I was studying art in college, I had to learn a new way of looking at the world. I had to look for shapes in between spaces, study bone structure and muscle attachments, and learn a new language of shadow and light.
An artist must be sensitive to sights a normal person doesn’t notice. Multiple colors within a single leaf. The way light looks in the morning as opposed to dusk, and how it looks in winter as opposed to spring. Your art is only as good as your ability to notice nuances.
In her new book Fear Fighting, Kelly Balarie mentions the story of a woman with tetrachromatic vision. Her genetic mutation allows her to see the world as if she were looking through a kaleidoscope of color, seeing one hundred times more color than the average person. She sees the colors hidden from our natural sight every day–right in front of us, yet unnoticed.
Perhaps in my art training, I trained my eye to see a bit like a tetrachromat may see the world. In a spiritual sense, I also want to see my world through the eyes of the Holy Spirit, grasping uncommon insight into how God is working in my life.
Kelly writes,
with the Spirit, we are kind of tetrachromatic. Suddenly we get eyes to see and ears to hear with vividness that we never understood before (Matt. 13:16). The spectrum of possibility opens up, variances of new hope set in, and filters of truth hit the tones of our life just right. We step back for a moment and suddenly we see things don’t look so much broken as they are a work in progress.”
I want to see my dark places through Spirit eyes. The places I write about in Chapter 14, Loving and Hating of my new book, Newness of Life:
My grudges. My tendency to criticize. My hypersensitivity. My excuses. My indulgences.
I want to see those dark places as smaller and less powerful than I used to consider. I want to see God’s power as mightier and stronger than I ever noticed before.
This year I want the Spirit to show me new opportunities in technicolor, what I mention in Chapter 1, Life’s Seasons:
New financial situations. New writing projects. New parenting challenges. New age threshold (turning 40 this year).
I want to look at the world through Spirit eyes, seeing all the ways God is working everything together for my good. On Thanksgiving, I posted how God has worked in my writing career this year, and I can see how he’s newly unfolding chapters even today, as I self-publish Newness of Life next week.
In 2017 I want to look at the whole world like I did when I made my creation, Purple Haze, as an art student 17 years ago. I want to weave colorful elements of my spiritual life together in a harmonious tapestry. I want to receive blessings like leaves falling in the sky, raise my eyes to the heavens, and perform a song of praise in God’s presence. I want to find newness of life in all of my situations to come.
I wrote much more about how Kelly’s book spoke to my fear of abandonment. Visit this link to read my post.
Please vote 17 on the Fear Fighting Blogger Contest page so I can make my publishing dream come true.
In my new book, Newness of Life, I discuss how I faced fears and took hold of seasons of change. Pre-order your copy today on Amazon.
Please share on social media, using the buttons below. Thank you in advance!
This post will be linked up at #coffeeforyourheart and #wisewomanlinkup. Visit my linkups page to find links to these wonderful blogs.
