We’re not called to change the world

“We’re not called to change the world. God doesn’t require us to do something big and dramatic to fulfill His call on our lives. My younger self would be disappointed to hear that. But now it’s a relief.”

@drewndyck from his book, “Just Show Up.”

I had *a lot* of thoughts reading this book. Here are the two main ones:

1. “Just show up” is literally my art manifesto here. I’m always down on myself, I don’t feel like I hit the likeness of people that often, and sometimes I miss the mark *completely.* But I show up. Like Steve Jobs said, “Real artists ship.” He didn’t say “Real artists make perfect work” or “Real artists have a really cool style that everyone loves and are amazed by.” They ship. They just show up. The last few images I’ve drawn I’ve been discouraged by and wanted to shelve them but they’ve got to be posted. I pray about it, knowing I did it with a good heart, and then I post it and then quickly throw my phone down and run away.

2. One of the points that Drew really drives home in this book is that being present and better than being perfect. This is no more true than in speaking about fatherhood. It’s sad in one way because the bar for being a dad is on the ground we either trip over it or slide under it. “Just be around.” Could you imagine if we said that to mom’s? It seems like mom’s get judged for everything. If they’re not baking bread in between homeschooling sessions and multiple exercise routines to keep in shape while maintaining the house, the schedules, and the daily execution of tasks it’s like “what did you even do with your day?” My wife thanks me for working hard for our family but my two jobs are web developer and illustrator. I write code and draw pictures; both are done drinking lots of coffee and listening to the verve pipe. On a difficulty scale the work my wife does is *way* harder.

On the other hand; there’s a lot of freedom in just showing up. Messaging has us feeling like we have to change the entire world and if we’re not what are we even doing here!? It’s ok. We’re not all going to change the world. Take the weight of expectations off of your shoulders and just live your life the best you can.

Ugh this IG 2200 Limit!