My First Substack Post

Welcome, new and old friends, to my Substack!

Welcome me to Substack!

I am new on the Substack platform, so here’s my introductory post.

I write about creativity, leadership, and how these intersect with everyday life and faith. If you’re a divergent thinker like I am, you face obstacles to acting as yourself. It is why most young children believe they can draw or dance but as society indoctrinates them they give up on imaginative play and stop drawing. Creativity is what humans do when we thrive, so I hope to rediscover and reignite childhood wonder, curiosity, and imagination through this newsletter.

My writing launched with a blog twenty years ago, leading to speaking and published articles over those years. In addition, I published two books. My most recent one is MINDBLOWN: Unlock Your Creativity Genius By Bridging Science and Magic (2022). There I deconstruct the creative process in a way that helps us make sense of the science. I created Robot and Wizard, two characters in the book, who help us learn and practice the two mindsets most important to creativity.

In 2014 I wrote and published The Six Hats of the Worship Leader. I have worked as a church leader, minister, and musician. So, over the years, I am pleased this little book encouraged thousands of my fellow music directors, worship leaders, and pastors in church creative roles. This underserved tribe of creatives impacts hundreds of thousands of people in their local churches each week. The church in America desperately needs healthier systems, including how we create music, support creative people, and bring hope and justice to our society.

My musical group, A Beautiful Liturgy, is a daughter-father duo. We lead music and worship at Saint Matthew Lutheran Church in Walnut Creek, California. Since 2015, A Beautiful Liturgy recorded and composed music for the local church. We embrace bridging the tension between tradition and modern forms. In a time where division is the norm, it brings hope to build bridges to the past while looking to what’s next.

I am so grateful to have a wonderful spouse who enthusiastically supports my creativity! Tammy, my wife of over three decades, is an educator and leader who brings the best out of me and those she teaches. In addition, I have two grown children, my daughter Emilie and son, Ethan.

Here’s a bit about this Substack.

I want to celebrate people…meaning, YOU!

My best creative projects may come from my personal vision and individual work. But I, alone, can’t bring them to life! In a world where human, organic, and analog ways of making are further commoditized to be robotic, artificial, and digital, we need each other’s encouragement and real-world support more than ever. Fellow humans, let’s make it cool to celebrate humankind over scalability, control, and cut-and-paste grift.

This is not a hatred of technology, just a rightful lifting of people. Sure, let’s use digital tools. Let’s borrow great ideas. But let’s learn from them rather than allow tech to rip-off creators and devalue the labor and vision of creatives. Writing a good prompt is nothing like forming art born from the body, soul, and mind of a creator. Cut-and-paste, photoshop, or chat-prompt all you want. Just don’t call yourself a creative, especially an artist. But this goes beyond art. Creativity is about leadership, business, and even faith. So I ask this. How do we apply handmade values to all of life?

Hoarding versus Empowerment.

Please, remember this one thing, if anything, from this first post. Creativity is what humans do when we thrive. So, I hope this Substack becomes the antithesis of a zero-sum equation, existing only to mine influence and platform. With this newsletter and the relationships I hope to cheer you on. And, maybe you might be encouraged to do the same to others, too.

Creativity, as I often say, is a process. Do we celebrate the process or are we trapped within the universe of deliverables? Many of us must deliver to simply eat and pay rent. So, what I mean here is this. We won’t create long-lasting value with a toxic process. And we can’t keep growing and creating within systems that steal away our humanity. Empowerment is about creating new and safe spaces for people to thrive. Why we create should inform how we create.

What to expect.

I plan on one major post per month. But, if there is something timely, I may break that rule. Conversation matters more than polished content. Therefore, expect me to always answer comments, DMs, and engage with you. If you just want to lurk, that’s fine, too. If people disagree and we go at it, civility is expected! Here’s the rule. No hate. This is my newsletter, so you will be getting my thoughts, especially the ones I trust will serve people best. But, my real hope is to learn through the conversations that matter most to you.

Keep Growing, Keep Creating!

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