At Sojourn we say that we are “created for community.”  It should come as no surprise then that artists can create in community, although this rubs against the modern, pagan notions of the artist as an elevated, mystical being who can only create in isolation.  This has long been one of my core convictions as pertains to the arts.  So imagine my pleasure when I discovered Standing On Water’s Edge: Moving Past Fear, Blocks, and Pitfalls to Discover the Power of Creative Immersion by Anne Paris, PhD. 

Here is a representative passage from Paris’ clinical and historical observations regarding the role that friendship and community play in the work of successful artists:

“… many people I see for psychotherapy live with the illusion of self-sufficiency.  Our Western culture has placed so much emphasis and value on independence and autonomy that many people feel ashamed and weak when they are not able to handle everything by themselves …

“A cross section of recent psychological theories of development shows a shift from independence to the capacity to attach with others as the central factor in mental health…

“Even though artists may require isolation in relationships in order to immerse (in the creative process), it is the presence of certain types of relationships that gives them the courage and strength to take the dive … the kind of support an artist feels contributes to his internal sense of being special, safe, and understandable.”

Of course our ultimate sense of worth can only be found in Christ, but as Paul writes in his epistles, we are the body of Christ and as such we need each other.  And that is as much true for “artists” as for anyone else.

     ~                                                                         ~                                                        ~

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free-and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

1 Corinthians 12:12-27

This entry was posted Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 9:07 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed, and you can leave your own response below.