I am excited to introduce you to my new friend, Tom Eggebrecht. Tom's new book Fully and Creatively Alive is available on Amazon, but he's giving away a free copy today on the blog. To enter, like this post and message me with your name. I'll draw a winner at random on Wednesday, April 12th.
Here is a part of Tom's story, a story committed to the creative life:
The Power of On-Line Positivity
It all started when our son went to college in Nashville to begin the pursuit of a career in music. I had spent very little time in Music City. When we began to make frequent visits I was immediately enamored. It wasn’t the honky-tonks or the Grand Ole Opry. What I fell in love with were the neighborhoods away from Broadway. More specifically, I began to notice Nashville as a buzzing hub of creative entrepreneurs.
The longer our son lived there the more I began to meet some of these fascinating people. They made jewelry, sold handmade pottery, designed web sites, took photographs, ran sound for bands, and even started businesses doing accounting for all of these people. I knew that one day I wanted to interview them and learn from them. More than that, I wanted to write a book about them.
So that’s what I did.
Over the course of almost a year I made phone calls, jotted down notes, and began to write an outline for a book. It would feature people who pursued their passions, chased their dreams, and made a living doing so. They say that you should write the book you would want to read. The final result was my book, Fully and Creatively Alive.
Not only did I want to learn from creative entrepreneurs. I wanted my readers to, as well. So I wrote each chapter around an inspiring characteristic of a particular artist. And each chapter would end with three questions to move the reader toward a more creative life.
But what I really discovered is that at the heart and center of all creativity is a creative God who created us with a creative gene. As my book says: “At the beginning of all things, Scripture tells us, God created the heavens and the earth. He did it by simply speaking all things into existence. That is, until he made the crown of his creation: human beings. When God created Adam and Eve he did more than speak them into existence. He formed them from the dust of the ground. Like an artist using clay, God lovingly formed his most beloved creatures, paying attention to every detail.”
That’s you. Whether you know it or not – whether you believe it or not – you have been created to be creative. If you dig down deeply enough you’ll find a creative spark in there somewhere. It’s my life’s mission to encourage everyone I know to discover her or his own creativity. So here’s some encouragement for you to do just that today.
What creative spark has been placed inside you and how can you use it and share it with the world?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom Eggebrecht is Senior Pastor of Ascension Lutheran Church in Casselberry, Florida. He’s also an active blogger (http://www.tomeggebrecht.com/free), bicyclist, and music lover who enjoys encouraging people to pursue their passion and chase their dreams. Amongst the greatest joys in his life is the blessing of the time he gets to spend with his family, and recently becoming a grandfather for the very first time.