Life On Purpose

I live in a bike town. I ride about 70% of the time when I travel around my town. If you’ve ever biked anywhere around town, you understand the amount of forethought it takes. When I am going for a ride, I have to plan out the route I am going to take. I have to think about which route is going to be the most bike friendly. What intersections are best to cross major roads. Where bike lanes are and where I may have to share the road with cars or when I’ll have to use a sidewalk. I have to think about how long it will take me to get from point A to point B. What I need to wear based on the weather. Are there any sections that are covered in snow and ice that could very well turn a simple bike ride into a death defying stunt? Choosing to have a bike commuter lifestyle has everything to do with being purposeful.

Creativity also benefits enormously from the artist being purposeful. When an artist begins a new painting, they never start with the foreground and then work backwards. They must start with the background and add layers. This takes a lot of forethought. Attention to color. Which colors are going to contribute to the overall purpose of the painting. They have to consider scale and perspective, what they want the painting to communicate. If these are not considered first and planned for, the sum of all of the strokes will not work together to make a cohesive work of art. And more often that not, the painting just looks awkward.

The same can be said for song writing. For instance, when I write a song, I usually start off with an idea of what direction I am heading before I start writing. The best songs I’ve written have had purpose behind them. That’s not to say that there are not moments that I am struck with a great line or musical idea, and I work to capture that and turn it into a song. That does happen. But I’ve found that most often, if I have an idea for a song, a destination, it’s much easier to fill in the content, and everything works together. Planning ahead often means the difference between great lyrics that add to the overall theme and direction of the song and poor or mediocre lyrics that sound like they were written just to fill space or make a rhyme.

Purpose also helps with arranging. Think ahead. One of the biggest mistakes singer/songwriters make is that in writing a song on their particular instrument of choice, they fail to plan for a band. It is very easy to write a whole song and use an acoustic guitar, for instance, to fill out the music as much as possible. And this works well if it is just you and your guitar. But what about when you get ready to add a band? If your guitar has such a big role, you may find it difficult when adding other instrumentation. The arrangement can often sound too busy and too bogged down. As a writer you have painted yourself into a corner. If you think ahead while you are writing, you can prepare for other music to be included in your song. Think about alternate melodies or riffs that other instruments might play as opposed to trying to do it all yourself. Your songs will sound more professional and less like you hired a mediocre band to back you up for a gig.

Hop on the creative and spiritual purpose-cycle. I just made that term up. Get it? Its a figurative bicycle that helps us to be purposeful. As Christians, we were created to live and act with purpose. Our Creator was completely purposeful when he crafted us together, and His desire for us is to be purposeful in what we do. So pedal on - in how we live, in how we create. We must be intentional in our craft if our responsibility is to communicate God’s truth and grace to the world.