What's Revealed in the Process
It is important for us to remember that God is so often revealed in the process, yes, even the artistic process, and not simply the conclusion. As artists, as leaders, as women, our souls bloom when we embrace the process of discovery, when we create for the sake of enjoying life and understanding our humanity. This very thinking may run counter to our cultural mandate of having the perfect product completed yesterday, but creativity requires freedom.
The best lesson I am learning in my jazz lessons is more about life than it is about playing the piano. I keep it up now with no ambitions to be a great jazz pianist, but rather because of how the process is changing my thinking. When I think about my own artistic endeavors, my call to work with other artists and creatives, I pray constantly for the eyes to see beyond the bottom line. There is wisdom in understanding the process, and Miles Davis, one of the great children of jazz, penned it rather perfectly: "If you hit a wrong note, it's the next note that you play that makes it good or bad." Amen.