#thisisinitiation

New release from our own @quinnerwin This Friday! #thisisinitiation

Coming soon from @quinnerwin. #thisisinitiation

9/9 So, without further ado... #thisisinitiation Photography by @MattPBrock

8/9 In the end, what I've discovered...is what really needs to be conquered & understood is within me. That's the difference between my youthful visions verses my adult dreams. #thisisinitiation Photography by @MattPBrock

7/9 It's that "kid" part of me that was used to get me where I am now. Back to a sense of purity, curiosity, vulnerability...a deeper authenticity. Despite all I've been through, that's what keeps me up at night & wakes me up in the morning. It's what fills me up with wonder when I contemplate God's goodness & the beauty that's still left in my world even after so much hurt. It's what makes me believe in the infinite possibilities... #thisisinitiation Photography by @MattPBrock

6/9 So, I'm in this new chapter. I've been initiated. I'm a new person. Or maybe a more mature/self-actualized/integrated version of the kid I've always been. The kid I was is the man I want to be. Don't be fooled...this is not a way of shirking responsibility or being Peter Pan. It's something other. For some reason, we're taught that you have to stop being a "kid." But there's something really important about reflecting on those innate passions & desires we had when we were kids. The pieces of ourselves that led us to say, "I want to a paramedic" or "I want to be a hairstylist" or "I want to be a comic book illustrator." Maybe you're not any one of those things now, but I bet if you examine yourself a little, you'll find the thing that made you want to be those things is driving you to do what you do now...or not? And what if that desire is lost? Can it be recovered? I absolutely believe so. That's what my journey has been up 'till now. A recovery of sorts. #thisisinitiation Photography by @MattPBrock

3/9 I've been spending the last year or so coming to terms with this thing a lot of people call "The Dark Night of the Soul." In literature, it's called the "Abyss" or the "point of no return." Look up this guy named Joseph Campbell & read all about it. Although he describes that this is a mythological pattern, it's based on what all of us experience to a degree. We all have these "abyss's" in life. I'm sure you can look back on your own...and you might have lived through one or even a few. The last decade of my life has been one big "Dark Night of the Soul." A lot of folks don't know that about me. I've been super productive & even had moments of happiness in the middle of all of it...but it's been really really hard. I'm not complaining though--I'm grateful for it all. Let me make this clear: that kind of space in life isn't necessarily a bad thing or something you should avoid. In fact, for me, it was not something I could avoid & I ultimately needed it to really really understand my humanity & God's goodness in the night. Dare I say it was really Him that led me out into the wild in the first place... #thisisinitiation #God #Faith #Literature #josephcampbell #abyss #darknightofthesoul Photography by @MattPBrock

2/9 I started reading a book recently called Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. My great friend @oh_jeremiah recommended it to me after a conversation we had about our individual relationships with creativity. In the section I just read, Gilbert describes her belief that our relationship with creativity should bring us great joy; the whole tortured artist thing can be unnecessary & destructive (obviously) although there are some tortured souls out there who create incredible work. I've always enjoyed my own interaction with creativity; I'm not sure I've always thought that creativity like me. Ha! I'm learning to change that belief...but here's the deal...hard times have come...I've lived out my own tragedies. I didn't pursue them. They found me. What then? #thisisinitiation Photography by @MattPBrock