I'm going to share my screen.
It is so good to see you.
Hello and welcome.
All of you beautiful people that you are just logging in,
hello and welcome from Vancouver,
wherever you are in the world.
I'm going to share my screen.
It is a beautiful Saturday morning here,
9 a.m.
It is a wintery day.
A number of you are connecting to audio.
I'm going to share my screen.
We are going to be talking about perfectionism
versus the spirit of excellence.
What the differences are.
The good, the bad, and the ugly.
We are going to be talking about the spirit of excellence and how
to be perfect.
I'm going to share my screen.
I see all of you are connecting to audio.
I will give you a few minutes.
I'm going to sip my coffee.
I'm going to share my screen.
That is so fun that you are cooking dinner.
No worries, put on video whenever you can.
I'm glad you are with us.
That is so great.
I'm going to share my screen.
How are you?
I can't hear you.
You are muted.
How are you?
Good.
Good to see you.
We both are wearing white.
We got the memo.
I think I wore that sweater the last time.
Is it super cold there?
It is winter.
It is super cold.
It is a mountain.
It snows everywhere.
There is not snow on the ground here.
It is pretty cold.
How is it in India?
It is very hot here.
We have the air conditioner going.
We have beautiful people joining us.
We are going to give a few more minutes.
We are on audio call right now.
We are going to give a few more minutes.
I was letting people know.
This is our third kingdom creative chat.
We are going to be talking today about the difference between
perfectionism and the spirit of excellence.
The good, the bad, the ugly of perfectionism.
And the beauty and power of the spirit of excellence.
It is going to be a really good conversation.
I am so excited to hear what he has to say.
For those of you who don't know who he is,
he is a brilliant artist,
musician, songwriter,
digital guru.
Incredible.
He has so much to say in this space.
Of navigating good art and the creative process.
He has so much to say in this space.
And then has a lot to say about what perfectionism actually is and the good, the bad, and the
ugly of it, that there actually can be really good things to strive for that excellence.
But when it's got all of the other dynamics to it that can be harmful to our humanity
or keep us in fear or shame or out of a performance striving thing.
But the beauty of it when we actually want to create really good art and we want to actually
be the best versions of ourselves and let excellence be the thing that motivates us
and leads us into the fullness rather than just kind of doing kind of so-so mediocre
stuff.
We don't want to be marked by mediocre.
We want to be marked by excellence.
But in our creative process, we are all going to start at beginner level.
We are going to start at being terrible at things and yet allowing love and delight of
the father and allowing who God has made us to be, not the comparison towards other
people because comparison is a thief of joy and comparison actually robs us being the
authentic version of who we've been created to be.
So not getting caught up in that, but there's so many layers to this.
There's so many dynamics to this conversation and to this whole topic.
So I'm really looking forward to jumping into it with Zylan and to hear from different ones
of you.
It's just going to be a really great conversation.
So hopefully there'll be some more people.
I know it is the Christmas season.
It is a busy time of year, especially as we're just two weeks out from Christmas.
So I know a lot of people were wanting to join, but they're unable to because they've
got some other plans with Christmas, which is totally understandable.
But for those of you that are with us, we're so grateful.
And for those of you that are watching on the replay, we love you and we hope that you're
really blessed by this conversation.
So Zylan, what's something that you do for Christmas in India?
What's like a Christmas tradition?
Oh, I can't hear you again.
You're muted.
I think it's the same stuff, you know.
Obviously, we don't get snow and stuff here, but people actually make Christmas trees and
Christmas lunch and cakes and stars and, you know, visiting friends and family.
Yeah.
Pretty much the same thing, you know.
Yeah.
What's your, like, favorite Christmas drink?
Like, is it like, I guess it wouldn't be hot chocolate and like all the hot drinks.
It'd probably be a cold drink.
To be very honest, I don't think so.
I mean, personally, me, we don't, like, celebrate in such an intense way.
I mean, I don't have a special Christmas drink as such, you know.
Yeah.
Totally.
Here in Canada, it's like, there's so many.
At Starbucks, there would be, like, all the different, like, Christmassy drinks or there'd
be, like, mulled wine or hot apple cider or the peppermint mocha hot chocolates or, you
know, like all of the different, like, fun things.
Oh, wow.
And then if you, like, if people drink alcohol, there's a whole lot of different festive drinks
that way, too.
But just the fun, like, hot apple cider with, like, caramel and whipped cream on top or
peppermint mochas or, yeah, mulled wine or just, like, different, like, cidery things.
It's so, like, I love it.
I just love all of the flavors and textures.
And one of my friends is doing Christmas baking today, so I'm going to go over to her house,
so that'll be fun.
I love all, like, festive.
Oh, wow.
And a couple of my friends are actually bakers.
They're actually doing it.
And I've ordered a couple of cakes from one of my friends, and I'm still waiting for her
to finish it, you know?
So fun.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
That's awesome.
Well, beautiful people, I keep seeing more of you hop online.
So good to have you with us.
Welcome, welcome to the Kingdom Creative Chat.
We're so glad that you're tuning in from all over the world.
We're so glad that you're here.
Me and Dylan are just kind of chatting about Christmas, just saying hello before we kind
of get into our conversation on perfectionism versus the spirit of excellence.
And so we're really glad that you're with us.
Lisa, it's so good to see your face.
There's so many people that are just on audio, but we can see your face.
It's so beautiful to see your wonderful face.
Thor?
Oh, I'm so sorry.
We can't hear you.
Do you want to unmute for a moment?
I just said it's four in the morning.
Oh, four in the morning.
You are amazing.
Where are you tuning in from?
Sydney, Australia.
Wow.
You're incredible.
Feel blessed I'm here.
You are.
You should be.
Oh, very blessed.
So glad that you're here with us.
I think God said, yes, no, you've got to get up.
So that's why.
Wow.
Amazing.
Well, thank you for joining us.
We're so glad you're here.
here. It's good to see your face too, Rudy. So good to see you.
Where are you tuning in from?
I'm in Congo. Yeah, Congo. Yeah. Wow. I'm on the African
continent. Yeah. Amazing. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. What time is it for
you in Congo? It's 6pm. Amazing. Well, welcome. We're so glad
that you're with us. Thank you. So great.
Was Island, why don't we kick this off? I would love to just
hear from you. Maybe even just you can let people know kind of
the artistry that you're involved in the creative process
just like maybe a little bit of what you do. And then maybe some
of your thoughts. Yeah, of what? Perfectionism, it really we
this will be a big conversation. We'll go lots of different
places. But maybe you can just let us know kind of some of the
key things that are in your heart.
Yeah, sure. Do you want to pray and start?
Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Awesome. Father, I just say thank you so
much for this gift and opportunity to be with one
another today. Thank you for the gift of gathering with creatives
and your sons and daughters from all over the world. Father, I
thank you for each one of them. Thank you for the gifts and the
skills, the talents, the abilities. Thank you for your
hand of favor upon each one. Thank you for your destiny and
your purpose. In each one. Thank you for your great love and your
faithfulness for each one that is here live with us and everyone
that is going to be watching on the replay. Father, we just ask
for this time that you would release the spirit of wisdom and
revelation. I pray that you would just release your heart
that you would speak in the midst of us that you would just
be releasing wisdom and your heart when it comes to creating
and allowing art to be expressed through our lives God that would
bring you glory that would release heaven that would be a
beautiful expression of who you are and who you've created us to
be. And so would you give us wisdom as we talk about this
today? Would you open our eyes? Would you come and drop things
in our spirit? We just ask Holy Spirit that you would lead us
into encounter in this time that you would cause our hearts to
come alive. God, I pray that you would cleanse us and break us
free from fear and shame and anything that would hold us back
and us being the truest, most authentic versions of who we've
been created to be. So we just say where the Spirit of the Lord
is there is freedom. We welcome you Holy Spirit. We welcome the
Spirit of light and love and abundance. We welcome the
creative one, the master of creativity, you King Jesus.
Father, would you speak? Would you move? Would you release your
love? Would you release your voice and your presence to each
one of us right now in Jesus name? Come and be with Zion as
he speaks. And yeah, God, we're just so expectant for what
you're going to do in this next hour. In Jesus name. Amen.
Amen. Wow, that's beautiful. Hello, everybody. I'm Zion. For
those who don't know me. I'm an artist. I'm a musician. I play
music. I am actually a drummer and singer songwriter. And
apart from music, I'm interested in a little bit of filmmaking
and graphic designing and stuff. So it's been a wonderful
journey for me to evolve as an artist. And I live here in India
in the south of India, and I travel around and play music and
you know, talk to people and stuff. So I'm so privileged and
honored to be here with you guys. And so so happy. And thank
you, Dana for amazing intro and all. I was thinking, I mean,
what I'm gonna say, you know, the thing is, to be very honest,
I'm also kind of struggle with this word perfectionism. I think
everybody actually, in a way or another, are having, you know,
some sort of perfectionism in us. And growing up, actually,
I'm so blessed to be in a family where my cousins and you know,
all the people had a lot of artistic skill, you know, a lot
of musicians and painters and artists, you know, where, like
growing up,
I was surrounded with a lot of people, you know,
from the family.
So, and it was easy for me to like pick up an instrument
and just play, it all came like very naturally,
but at the same time, you know,
that fear of like being perfect was also a big thing,
you know?
So, and growing up, I somehow, you know,
you know, try to be like over-critic of myself
and critic others.
It's really hard for me to like, you know,
to appreciate others, you know?
I mean, I didn't know that, I mean for,
I think now when I look back,
I know that it was very mature, you know?
Because like evolving as a person, as an artist,
you know, it's actually, it's a journey, you know?
And it's not a very linear kind of process,
you know, it's more like a circular kind of process,
you know, it takes time, you know,
sometimes we get stuck,
we just go back to the place that we started, you know?
I mean, right now when I look back, I can understand that,
but growing up, I was this person in our circle
who is hard to impress, you know?
You know, when I, I mean, people used to hate me for this,
and I think still a lot of my friends actually don't like
this character of mine, you know?
I mean, it's, I always actually like see the negative,
the imperfect thing, and I'm a very opinionated person,
and so immature, you know?
So I just say it, you know?
And I think I've hurt a lot of people,
even, I mean, I actually been hard to myself as well.
But, you know, as we get into the light of the beauty
of God, and, you know, then all the perspective changes,
we understand, right now I understand that, you know,
it was, there's nothing called like,
like we are all imperfect beings, you know?
So whatever we do is imperfect,
and if you think that this is a perfect thing,
somebody else will think that, no, it's not, you know?
So it's actually, it's pretty relative,
and being, perfectionism was,
still, it's a challenging thing.
I don't know, I'm in a place
where I actually overcome this thing.
I'm still growing and learning as an artist,
as an individual, but what I've learned through the years,
that perfectionism is a personality disorder, you know?
That's what the, you know, the science says.
Actually, it's a personality disorder,
and, you know, it roots from a lot of, you know,
childhood traumas and, you know, character flaws and stuff,
you know, because you create unrealistic expectations
from yourself, you know,
and which can lead you to procrastinations,
and, you know, you never, like, unproductivity, you know?
There are a lot of negative things, you know,
when you're being perfect.
I mean, try to be perfect, you know?
There's nothing called, only,
there's nothing called, like, super perfecting, you know?
Whatever we do, because we are imperfect beings,
whatever we do can have some sort of flaws and imperfect,
and that's the whole point, you know?
I mean, I'm still learning to see the beauty
in the, in that imperfect, you know, scenario, you know?
I mean, it's all about actually cultivating a mind
of seeing things in a very godly perspective,
as Diana mentioned that, you know,
we have to strive for a spirit of excellency
than perfectionism, you know?
Right now, as an artist, I actually mentioned that.
I mean, it's a journey.
We are evolving as an artist.
I mean, I might be better at something, you know,
next year, because the only way that we grow.
as an artist, as a creative people is,
you know, just to,
you know, create and publish and critique and repeat,
you know, that's the only way, you know,
it's basically, it's a practice.
At the same time, for me,
I'm just learning to,
because I had this fear of doing something,
because I had like unrealistic expectation of myself.
I thought of like, you know,
especially when I started writing songs and all,
like, you know, I don't write like, you know,
I have friends who actually rewrite a song
for 250 times and stuff, I'm not exaggerating.
When I think about that, I mean,
their songs are pretty nice though, very, very great.
It's surgical, you know?
And for me, I mean, I can't do that kind of thing.
I can do it, but it will be,
for me, it's too much mental thing, you know,
just putting so much work and seeing it again and again
and again and again and again,
because at the end of the day,
when I think that this is the perfect thing,
someone will find a flaw in it, you know?
What's the point?
I mean, if you're publishing a stuff
and a hundred people look at the same stuff
in a hundred different ways, you know,
and it won't be appealing to everybody.
So what's the point of like, you know, being so perfect?
But of course I have to strive for,
because this is what I believe that,
what divine us as an artist, as a creative person
is our ability to judge, right?
To what is good, because in the,
between the end, between the beginning
and the end of an artwork on a project or whatever it is,
I mean, we have to find that it's not good enough
because otherwise we don't push, you know, to be the,
you know, it just always, it's, I mean,
in that way, we need to like have some sort of perfectionism,
some sort of standards, actually, I would say,
to judge, you know, judge our process, you know,
just to see it as not good enough,
because that's what actually makes us to push ourselves
and, you know, bring the better out of it.
Yes.
You know, and I think that's a very,
this is what I've heard,
that there are two kinds of perfectionism.
One is adaptive perfectionism,
and the other one is maladaptive perfectionism.
The adaptive perfectionism is a positive perfectionism,
which I actually just explained, you know,
because you actually do it with your, like,
current ability, you know, on a maximum level,
and you just finish it, you have a deadline,
you just finish and publish,
and, you know, you're willing to take critique,
and, you know, just, it's a positive thing.
And the maladaptive thing is that it's very toxic,
actually, it's literally makes you unhappy,
and, you know, self-sabotage,
and, you know, a lot of negativity into our lives,
you know, some people get depressed,
and, you know, because it's actually driven by fear,
you know, just fear of failures,
fear of taking a critique from other people.
So I think what we need to strive is,
it's a, my point is, it's a journey, you know,
it's a journey, we have to,
you know, I'm actually,
one of the things that I am actually pushing myself to,
I've heard this thing called a 70% rule, 70% rule.
The thing is, you know, if you do something,
don't aim for 100%, aim for 70%, you know?
So then it's less struggle, then you will do it,
because the moment you set a goal of doing something,
you know, 100% perfect, you're never gonna do it,
because, and the other thing I've heard that,
you know, when you critic judge a final product,
just do it twice.
Once you finish it, just look at it,
I mean, what it is, is it good or bad?
Then after some hours or some days, only twice, you know?
Because the moment, if you are a person that,
you finish a product and,
because I know some of my friends
who are actually working on a song for years,
they just start a track and they just work on it,
work on it, work on it, work on it, work, work, work, work.
Finally, they don't reach any place, you know,
they make like, it's a very unhappy destination.
So it's better to like, you know, just be practical.
One more thing I just wanted to add
that changed my entire perspective
about creating something is I had a friend,
I still have a friend, and it was an artist,
not like a really great artist or something,
but this person is always actually doing stuff, you know.
Painting, and it's like, most of the time,
this person is actually working.
And it wasn't that great.
And I was like deep in my heart,
and I was like, you know, so it's not very impressive.
But the thing, the person told me that,
dude, this is not my masterpiece.
You know, these are my road to my masterpiece.
And I was like, wow.
Wow.
I mean, there is so much freedom there, right?
So here I am actually trying to, you know,
write the best thing, but I don't know how to do it.
So I'm not doing it.
And there is another person who is maybe, you know,
I don't wanna say that less talented or gifted or whatever,
but somebody who actually trying to work and work and work.
And, you know, definitely they will be
much better than me for sure.
So that actually was an eye-opener for me to, you know,
to see myself in a different perspective, you know,
just doing it, you know,
that's the only way that we learn and grow as an artist,
you know, just by doing it and publish it.
I'm willing to, you know, give it to the crowd.
And, you know, there are people who's gonna say
that it's not that great.
And, you know, you have that heart,
the maturity to take it and, you know,
just to work on it and practice,
practice, create, publish, critique, repeat.
PCPR, PC, PCPR, yeah.
But that's the only way that we grow.
I think I'm actually still learning.
And I think it's a process.
I'm still learning how to, you know,
see myself, you know, give grace to myself.
And also like see good things in other stuff,
you know, to appreciate,
because I'm pushing myself to see the beauty, you know,
because every people are growing
in different, different levels actually.
So to appreciating their growth, you know,
just accepting where they are as an artist,
as an individual, as a person,
it takes so much maturity, so much character,
you know, to see that.
I'm still learning and growing.
I think it's been a really beautiful journey
for the last couple of years.
I mean, I've seen there's a major change is happening
in my way of creating stuff and appreciating stuff.
At the same time, you know,
being a better writer or better musician, you know,
so that actually helped me to practice
and, you know, just work on my craft, you know.
So, and it's okay for me to, like, you know,
it's okay to, yeah.
I think it's a beautiful journey.
I mean, now I can handle criticism and, you know,
say people say that to me, it's not that great.
I was like, that's cool.
I would like to know, I mean,
why they said it's not good, you know,
because then if there is something that I can, like,
you know, like, you know, what improved,
then that's a great place to start.
Yeah.
I mean, like at the end of the day, my point,
the whole point is it's a journey, you know,
and you have to look at, I had to look at myself,
why I am being so perfectionist, you know,
why I behave that way, why I'm seeing this way.
The moment I started to ask that question to myself,
I've seen a lot of character flows,
a lot of immaturity and a lot of stuff in me, you know,
the moment when I started changing that stuff,
giving that part to God and the spirit of God
to work in my heart and, you know,
my artistry, everything changes
and I'm improving as an artist.
Yeah, you want to say something?
That is so good.
Yeah.
You've just said so many good things.
I just want to kind of put a few things on like the table
just for us to kind of dialogue.
One thing that you were mentioning that I think is so good
is for us to know that our identity is separate.
from what we produce, because when we think what we produce
is actually, and it's a difficult thing
because actually what we produce comes out of who we are,
but if we're able to get to a place of confidence and love
of who the father says that we are
and who we are as an individual,
then we're able to hold what we create
and produce with humility that it can receive criticism
or it can receive feedback.
And so we're not then feeling like, oh my gosh,
so sensitive, like I'm a terrible person
or that wasn't a good thing, so that means I'm not good
or that needs to change or that needs to be improved upon.
Now I'm terrible and insecure and feeling like a failure
and feeling like I'm not good enough
and I'm not worthy of love,
which is so much of what happens from perfectionism
because the root of perfectionism is fear.
And actually the core need for us
is that we need to feel loved,
we need to feel seen and known and celebrated.
And so the difference between the kingdom of heaven
and the father is that we're starting from a place
that we're already celebrated.
We're starting from a place that we're worthy of love.
We're starting from a place that if we never do anything,
we are fully loved and celebrated
and bring so much joy to his heart.
But then when we allow that love and celebration,
that identity to actually root us and ground us in love,
then it shifts the motivation of our heart
to why we're doing what we're doing.
And because then as an artist or as a creative
in whatever we're doing,
we're not doing something so that we get love,
we're not doing something so that we are celebrated,
that we get affirmation and identity from it,
we're actually doing it from a place of love.
We are affirmed, we are celebrated, we are worthy,
we know who the father says that we are,
and we're then creating from that place of confidence
and love and worship and relationship with him.
And so I think the motivation is everything.
Wouldn't you agree?
Oh no, you're muted again, I'm so sorry.
I agree.
Yeah, I think you made like really some great points.
That's the right way to articulate it.
It's actually connected to our identity, no?
Yeah.
Yeah, I think at the moment,
any person who actually,
I think this is what I recommend to all the people,
if you're an artist or a non-artist,
always, always do some inner engineering,
just work on yourself and work on your identity,
just give that part,
because most of the people doesn't care about
what's happening in the world.
They don't see themselves as it is.
And I mean, the moment that you actually
started to work on that self,
especially as an artist, it's very, very important.
The moment you start to work on your heart,
your identity, it's gonna be like a break free thing.
Totally.
Are we all supposed to speak
or are we keeping quiet for one another?
How is it working?
Yeah, sorry, we just kind of dialogue a little bit
and then we open it up for conversation.
So we're kind of communicating
and kind of like sharing and coaching
and teaching in this portion.
And then we'll open it up for different-
Shall I mute?
Yeah, just a moment.
Yeah, that'd be great.
And so the other thing I wanted to mention was
because everything in our life is spirit, right?
So the spirit realm is so real
and what we live from always comes from a spirit.
We're always doing something that is driven,
that is motivated, that is birthed
from a motivation and a spirit.
And so that's why as believers, as Christians,
as people that are part of the kingdom of heaven,
it's so good to grow in self-awareness
of what is it that is motivating me?
What is it that is inspiring me?
Is it the spirit of fear or is it the spirit of love?
Is it a spirit of competition
or is it a spirit of celebration?
Because in the kingdom, there's no comparison.
Comparison is the thief of joy.
Comparison, actually, we're constantly using observation
to evaluate whether people are worthy or not.
But in the kingdom of heaven,
we have eyes to see lenses of love.
We have eyes to see celebration.
And so we can celebrate everyone.
in every season of life, in every part of their development and their growth,
because that's what the father does, because when we're learning to grow as a toddler,
and we're kind of taking our first few steps, or we're learning to eat, or we're learning to paint,
our parents don't go, oh that's terrible, you're five years old and you're in kindergarten and
you're finger painting. No, the parent comes and completely is like, wow, look at those colors,
look at your fingers, this is amazing, and you put the artwork up on the wall, and you show it
to everyone, and when they're learning to play an instrument, and they're terrible, and they
can barely strum, or they're playing the flute, it's the celebration of, hey, I'm interested in
this, I want to express myself this way, I want to learn and grow, and so as we mature and grow
in our youth, in our adulthood, there's always room for celebration, because that's the kingdom
of heaven, and that's where the spirit of excellence comes in, because if we're motivated
by love and celebration, the spirit of excellence is going, the actual motivation for me to do this,
and to do it well, with excellence and skill, is because I want to give unto the Lord something
that is my very best. I want to love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength.
I want to be wholehearted in what I am called to do, purpose to do, what I've been created to do.
I want to give it my very best. I want to actually create wholeheartedly, and I want to give God
something worthy, something beautiful, and now, that's where, when it's from the motivation of
love, we can look at anything we create in our process, and go, wow, I'm going to look with eyes
of love. I'm not going to judge it, criticize it, because that's actually the way
that the enemy does. The enemy is the accuser of the brethren, and he comes to discourage, criticize,
judge, make little, make small, and so you always know, is this the father's voice, or this is the enemy
voice, because of the fruit of how you feel. Do you feel believed in? Do you feel loved? Do you feel
delighted in? Do you feel encouraged, and like, wow, look what you've done, coached, or do
you feel like, I suck, this is no good, I can never do this, doesn't matter how hard I try, I'm never
good enough, no one will ever like this, no one will ever, when we look at our self-talk,
and when we look at what's going on behind the scenes in our heart, and we get self-awareness,
we don't have to feel shame about that, we don't have to feel down on ourselves for that, we can
all say that we've gotten caught in that, and we continue to get caught in that. I continue to have
to, just like Xylan, break free of perfectionistic mindsets, because of my childhood conditioning,
that if it wasn't perfect, I didn't feel loved, and then it made me not even want to try, and then it
made me go, I have to be the best at everything, because that's where I'm getting my identity from,
but when you allow the love of God to heal that, and restore that, and root you, and ground you in a
place of love, and confidence, then the motivation for why you do what you do, isn't I'm trying to do
this so that I get love, I get celebration, I get a need met, or I become worthy in the world's eyes,
or friends and family, I'm actually doing this to express who I've been created to be, and just like
Xylan was saying, his friend who might not be at the most excellent level of his craft yet,
but he's got freedom, because he's working at it every day, going, I'm on my way to a masterpiece.
Sure, this isn't a masterpiece yet, but I'm not defined by this song that may be a five out of ten,
I'm not defined by it, it's a part of me, but next year, my song might be a seven out of ten,
and in two years time, I might write a ten out of ten song, but I'm actually not just
defined by what I create, it's an expression of me, but it's not the definition of my identity,
so I actually get to have freedom on the inside, that I get to suck, that I get to not be very good,
I get to learn and grow, and feel fully celebrated, and loved in my process, knowing that my heart
is to produce excellence, because I want to give God something beautiful and worthy, and I want
the fruit of my life to actually bear witness to who God is, and He is excellent in all of
His ways, and so I want to live like Christ, I want Christ on the inside, the abundant life,
the resurrection life of Jesus, I want the creativity of the Father, I want the x-factor
of the supernatural, of the Holy Spirit inside of me, inspiring me, anointing me, baptizing me,
giving me wisdom, giving me clarity, giving me insight, like we have God on the inside of us,
completely change the game of our calling,
of our expression, of whatever that looks like.
And so we actually get to have freedom
in our creative process
that we don't have to have it all together.
Isn't that like liberating?
I find that really liberating.
And so we get to strive and work hard
and give our best towards producing something of excellence
and letting go of the world's way of saying
you actually have to be in fear and striving
and burnout mode to try to produce perfection
in which you can never get to.
And at the end of the day,
what matters is the fruit of what you've created.
You want the creative process,
you want it to be this beautiful, intimate expression
of God's spirit in you, that there's like this love exchange
so whatever you produce, whether it's an art piece,
a song, a piece of clothing, you draw a building,
you're doing artistry or creativity in the digital space,
you want the spirit that was poured into that
to be so life-giving that whenever someone wears
that garment or eats that food or looks at that painting
or listens to that song, they can feel the love,
they can feel the spirit of God in it
because what you invested, what you gave to that
actually takes substance into the very thing that you created
and the fruit of that then has this exponential anointing
on it to carry abundant life
and to carry the kingdom of heaven
rather than it could still be this beautiful thing
but if it was toil and fear and anxiety and stress
that was constantly producing that,
that actually gets inside of that substance
and again, no shame, no blame, no finger pointing,
we've all been there but it's just the invitation
as creatives and artists that we actually get to create
from a place of love, we get to create
from a place of freedom, we get to invite the Holy Spirit
to say, God, perfect love casts out fear,
I don't wanna have any fear in my life
and take away the stress, would you give me anointing?
Would you actually cause my heart to come alive
in freedom and in confidence so that I can create
from a place of abundance and freedom?
So any thoughts, Zylan?
I'm totally agreeing with you, it's so beautifully
actually put it, it's actually the moment we started
make everything out of love, that's how the magic happens,
that's how the real beauty actually come alive,
I think that's a great, just being in love,
that's the only way.
Totally, and it kind of goes back
to what we were talking about last month,
if you didn't get to join us last month,
it's on the Facebook page,
we talked about finding inspiration
and I think that's the thing that's so important
is that you constantly cause your being to be inspired
and be intentional about what brings inspiration to you,
what causes your heart to be awakened,
what causes your soul to feel alive and fire
and yeah, what inspires you,
what causes you to come alive because that keeps,
it's kind of like a relationship, long-term relationship,
you love one another and you want to keep that spark alive,
you wanna be intentional about how you connect
with that person, so what you're creating,
the love that you're creating in your relationship
is life-giving and it's fresh, same thing with creativity,
we don't wanna just do and go through the motions
and yeah, I'm doing this, it's like,
no, how do I find inspiration,
what do I do that sets my soul ablaze,
how do I bring a fresh angle to this,
how do I get creative about approaching my work
because a lot of us will do our work
and it's creative as an artist,
how do I look at it not as just a job to be done
and something to be perfected
but how do I bring the magic to it,
how do I bring the spark,
how do I bring something life-giving
that causes me to fall in love all over again
because when you're in love, you're electric,
when you're in love, you're awakened and alive
and you've got that sparkle and that shine
and so how do we bring that to the creative process
and get out of just the slave fear mentality
and into that liberated love mentality?
So-
Yeah, that's beautiful.
Yeah.
I think there are a couple of people
wants to add something or maybe ask questions maybe.
Yeah, totally.
I was just about to say, let's-
Yeah, don't show me that art is my identity.
you know, that's part and he gave me a vision with it as well.
So I like I couldn't do it if it was work. Yeah, we're just
straight off, you know, because and he also keeps telling me
it's part of my worship. Yeah, I'm a painter. You see this one
behind you can see. Yeah. Sorry. I said that. It's a yeah, there
you go. So I started in 2019. I obviously abstract. But so I
can't say I can't point to them. I can for me, I can say look,
that's no good. And that's not good. And lots of other people,
some people hate art full stop. But so I mean, I suppressed it
for like decades saying I'm being vulnerable. But it's my
identity. God just revealed it to me. I can't nothing I can do
about it. Like anybody know, someone else's. And I don't
believe in perfection either. But it's something I'm being
authentic about. That's, that's all I can do is just get the
maybe the design right. And but it's my identity. And I'm
expressing God and myself. And he showed me a vision of him
dancing with me when I so it's a matter of getting there and
doing it basically.
Oh, I love that Lisa. That is so beautiful. I love it. Like that
picture is stunning. I love abstract art. That is a stunning
piece of art. Like that is beautiful. The texture, the
color, the dynamics, the contrast. I'm like, wow, you
have an incredible gift. And I just
know, that's it. That's good. I couldn't. So that's why I don't
if I feel pressured, and if I felt like it was work, if I
felt like I couldn't do it, you see, I've just said that I was
directed to a certain cause. Yeah. I was told all at once
that no, you know, this is I've always loved it. But this is
you. Yeah. Yeah. And I just suddenly felt freedom to now I
can just go do it. You know? Yeah. In God. And I thought I
told you, I felt sort of vision of God rubbing his hands like
that.
Don't you love it? I just love how the father is so committed
to us being created as to be. And he leads us out of our own
mindsets and our own, you know, insecurities or our fears. And
he constantly beckons to us and he calls to us and he's like,
Come, this is what I've got for you. And then we begin to like
discover it. And then we're like, Oh my gosh, this is who I
am. This is my identity. And we're fully alive. He's so
committed to us being the full alive expression of who he's
created us to be. I love it.
Amazing. Yeah, how we can put it aside. Like, I thought it was
something evil, like, as I was so passionate about it in my
heart. Yeah. And I thought it would compete with my love for
God, you see. But really, he loves us and who we are as we
are. Yes. It's not something to not something to be afraid of.
Yeah. You kept saying about fear, but I mean, God loves us
as we are. Yeah. So long as you surrender it to him, I suppose,
you know, see how it is.
Yeah, so good. And I think you bring up a really good point to
Lisa, that I think so much in the church, we think if we do
something that we love, somehow it takes away her love for God.
And God's like, I'm not in competition with what I've
created you to do. I actually as a good father, want to see my
children fully thriving, coming alive. I want to see my children
fully enjoy who they've been created to be. And it's not ever
something that we need to I think so much in the church,
we've heard just to die to ourselves, die, die, die, and
just like put it all down. But it's actually meant to be so
life giving. Zylan, you've got your hand up. We'd love to hear
from you.
Well, what Lisa just said, you know, another thing that really
striked me here is I mean, she said, I mean, she's been, you
know, not doing this for years, actually, you know. I mean,
that's one of the things you know, what I just remind me
about the parables of talents, right? The guy who got one
talent, he actually slept over it, actually, you know, because
he had such a fear, and a weird idea about his master. And most
of the time, we are actually in the same place, you know, just
because I mean, we are actually kind of scared of doing it
because of insecurity, or maybe unrealistic.
stick expectation, you know?
So we demand so much thing, you know, from ourselves,
or maybe like, there are a lot of factors,
but the only way that we can grow is to just, you know,
like as Lisa just said, you know, just do it,
just keep doing it, you know,
because every art is an extension of the artists, you know?
You know, so this is one of my friends said that,
you know, the way anyone play music,
we can literally, not just music,
we can see the person who is actually, you know,
making that sound, you know?
Every art is an extension of an artist,
and we are growing, you know?
We are growing, we are evolving as human being,
as child of God, as, you know,
as an artist.
So the only way to freedom is to, you know,
just get out and do it, you know?
Just do it.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's amazing.
Yeah.
Good, yeah.
So good, Dylan.
And thank you for sharing, Lisa.
It was so good to hear your heart and your perspective,
and just so glad that you're on the journey
of just expressing yourself fully as a creative
and as a painter and as a daughter.
Yeah, if you have something else to say.
Oh, sorry.
Just unmute yourself, love.
I was just going to say,
maybe I disagree in some points about perfectionism,
what you're saying.
I can't remember which one.
But I really believe there's no such thing,
but like with people,
I think Zainab, you said that nobody can be perfect.
So you're silly to basically just strive for it,
even in your art,
because I think art is just, like you said,
it's just an expression of who you are
and whatever God wants,
but it can never be perfect.
Yeah.
You see?
Yeah.
I don't know what it's expressing, but it's...
I totally agree with that.
Yeah.
I totally agree with that.
Yeah, that's true.
One of the interesting things in psychology,
it's so funny.
I think in the world,
we're always going to see different people
come at the same theme or topic
with a different point of view.
And I was just actually reading this thing on relationships
from like a trauma-based kind of psychologist
who I really, really love.
And he was talking about relationships.
And I actually just want to read it
in the context of relationships,
but in the context of us being able to see perfectionism.
And just because it gives a really interesting thing.
He says,
love between two people isn't built by being perfect.
Love is built in the safety created by the repair process.
And he says,
I'm totally convinced that one of the greatest killers
of love is perfectionism.
The expectation that you could ever get it right
or that your partner could ever get it right all the time
is insane making.
We all have emotional hurt and trauma
from past relationships.
Many times relationships are what causes trauma.
So naturally it's relationships
that can help us heal from past trauma.
Is love a battlefield?
I think not.
Perfectionistic love is a battlefield.
Let's be real.
Perfectionistic love isn't love.
It's just a bunch of unrealistic expectations
picked up from a childhood
that are now in your present day expectations.
Where does perfectionism come from?
Perfectionism or imposter syndrome
is the expectation of absolute rejection or neglect
unless you get it perfect.
And getting it perfect isn't possible.
Perfection is unknowable and it's impossible.
You are so much more than imperfect.
That's such a crappy word in my opinion.
Love yourself even though you are imperfect
is such a perfectionist thing to say.
How about this?
Love yourself as you are and you are a perfect human.
And those unrealistic expectations of perfect
are just how I tried to get love when I was younger
and now I'm safe to let them go.
Love isn't built in the perfection.
Love is built in the mess.
Love is built after a relationship flare up
after there's a rupture in the felt sense
of emotional safety of the relationship
and in the repair process.
Just like at the gym when we lift weights,
we create micro traumas.
Building muscle happens.
The healing happens.
The strength comes afterwards
during the repair and the recovery process.
Love is in the repair
and that's how you cure perfectionism.
So that's all in context to relationship.
But I wanted to say that because I've heard Benji.
Benji is our leader, our great fearless.
Peter, of raising royalty, and he constantly says,
you are perfect, you are beautiful,
you are without flaw, without blemish,
you are holy, you are righteous in Christ Jesus.
Because we are actually in Jesus,
this is the scandal of grace, this is the mystery of grace,
this is the craziness of the gospel,
is that when we are saved and we actually come into
the death and the resurrection of Jesus,
when the Father looks at us,
he actually sees us as perfect.
Now, we know we're imperfect, we know we're flawed,
we know we've got fragility and weakness to our humanity.
But I love how he said that,
just love yourself even in your imperfection
is such a perfectionist thing to say.
And how about you reframe it?
How about you reframe it as knowing,
and this is like, it's like the same coin,
but it's either side of the same coin.
In one sense, it's understanding in the world
and in the gospel, we are desperately flawed
and broken and sinful, and we need a savior
and we need Jesus and we need the redemption,
the restoration, the healing, we need love.
We need a perfect love to heal and restore
every part of our being.
And then on the flip side, we've now been redeemed
and no good comes from us, it all comes from God,
yet we're made in his image.
We have Christ on the inside of us,
we are now perfect and holy and flawless
and blameless and righteous,
which to our natural mind is like, no, I'm not.
I know my weaknesses, I know my mistakes, I'm not perfect,
but in Christ we are.
And so then when we're actually able to live
from that place of confidence of, wow,
what does the righteousness of Jesus look like?
How do I grow in my identity as a son and a daughter?
How can this be?
How can this amazing love transform, set me free,
give me confidence and authority and strength?
And then when we get in that place,
when that kind of love transforms us,
like literally that is what's gonna change the world.
When that kind of love and identity and confidence
in, wow, in Christ, this is who I am,
when that gets expressed through what we do
and the people we love and our relationships
and our art and our work and our communities,
that is the transforming,
that's how we're gonna change the world.
That's the kingdom of heaven being expressed
and that's the spirit of excellence.
And that's also where the spirit of excellence
is rooted in humility
because we know actually who we really are
and we know the God inside of us,
the God factor that changes everything.
And then that love is what saturates us,
inspires us, motivates us, anoints us
and baptizes us in our ability to then with our humanity,
have accountability, have structure, have discipline,
get training, grow in our skill.
So it's that thing.
It's not just spiritual and it's not just practical.
The two come to one to be able to kind of foster
and create that excellence.
So any thoughts, Zylan?
Well, yeah, I mean, no, I'm actually wondering
if is there any, I think Rudy wants to say something.
Okay, great.
Yeah.
Yeah, I just agree with pretty much every point
being made here.
I'm just absorbing the information and the enlightenment.
I don't really have any comments at this point,
but if I have anything else to say,
I'm just gonna raise my hand.
Okay, awesome.
We're so glad you're here, Rudy,
and so glad that it's resonating in you
and that there's a sense of just agreement.
That's amazing.
So awesome.
No, one of the solution,
if anyone actually struggling
or see yourself being a perfectionist in an unhealthy way,
you know, one of the solution that we all can do is,
you know, just maybe write it down or ask this question,
why do I have to be so perfect?
You know, I mean, what are the reasons?
If you can ask that question,
like, you know, in a most honest way to ourselves,
we find a lot of answers and solution to our problems,
you know, because it's a perfectionism
can be a really a crazy mental block, you know,
and it will make you unhappy, unproductive,
and in a lot of unhealthy, you know, ways,
and it's better to like sort that thing, you know, in a.
in the grace of God, pray, pray fully,
maybe discuss with people, because as an artist,
you know, we are all like kind of a emotional being,
you know, and we are always on our own zone.
And sometimes I don't know how many of us
are comfortable sharing, you know,
our vulnerability to others.
If you are one of that person, you know,
because I was into that space, you know,
it was really hard for me to like, you know,
share my stuff to other people.
But, you know, the moment when I realized
and asked that hard question to myself,
it actually helped me a lot.
I'm not saying that, I mean, I just like, you know,
conquered all my fears and stuff, you know.
I still find a lot of perfectionism in me,
and I actually, in a way that, I mean,
I'm trying to cultivate in a very positive manner,
because something that, you know,
to push us to a spirit of excellence, you know,
just doing it out of love, and it's a beautiful way.
If anybody actually having any, that sort of struggle,
you know, or do you have any question
about whatever we spoke, we talked about,
or maybe you want to add something,
I mean, that's a great thing to go.
I think we've made a couple of really,
really great points, right?
Yeah, totally.
Yeah, it's been really, really good.
You said something, and I just was like, oh, man.
Leanda, Leanda Tate, she raised us.
Leanda, do you want to unmute yourself, love?
Hi, can you hear me?
Yes, hello, love, how are you?
I'm all right, hi, how are you?
My name is Leanda Tate.
I'm actually from the Caribbean,
a beautiful island called Trinidad and Tobago.
Beautiful!
It's really nice to be here.
It's really nice to connect
with other kingdom creatives across the world.
So big up, thank you, Raising Royalty.
Thank you, Raising Royalty.
Thank you, Dana and Zailan.
Lovely to be here.
Yeah, this particular discussions
kind of was interesting to me.
I know I've had to confront my own self
with perfectionistic kind of tendencies.
And for me, when I was looking at it,
I came to three sorts of realizations
that it was necessary for me to realize,
but it was kind of harsh on myself
when I was thinking about it.
For me, perfectionism stemmed from three things.
One was fair, actually.
The second was pride, which is probably even worse.
And the third thing was procrastination,
to be quite honest about that.
And so there is this concept
that done is better than perfect.
And why that meant a lot to me
is because I found that when for certain moves of God,
there is a timeliness aspect that's attached to it.
And perfectionism can make you miss your moment
because you're stuck in the weeds and not releasing it
because you think that it requires your strength
to be applicable.
So it's kind of like, it's that pride part
where you think that the reason
it's going to minister to people
is because you've done it great,
rather than it's the, like what you were saying,
the love of God or the move of God
that's gonna touch people and not necessarily your strength.
You're the vessel, but it's really Him, you know?
And so that timeliness.
The pride thing was rough too.
I like to justify it by saying, well, God made things
and He said it was good, and then He rested.
But really it's Him saying it was good and not really me.
And I know the standards thing
that Zailin was talking about.
I respect that, bro.
Yeah, we like to have standards as a creative.
There's a certain point where I can be so ridiculous
that I have to move.
something a frame it has to be like the it has to cut as a video and it's on the right frame
and that's that's how it feels right you know it doesn't feel right if it's not
that specific frame so i totally get that i i feel you i feel you and sometimes it's really
managing that and the best way that for me it's been helpful is instead of is instead of
prioritizing my own opinion i just kind of ask the father is this good enough
and that that can be really really helpful is this good enough yeah is this good enough
to do what you needed to do and that's that's super helpful been helpful for me so i i just
have to always on when i feel in that perfectionist route i sort of have to unmask pride and be like
are you being prideful can you be humble and let god use you you know are you being afraid and this
is just your um your thing you're hiding behind it's not good enough yet you know and um that
that was it yeah but thank you so much i appreciate the discussion big up to all of you uh it's lovely
being here oh and thank you so much for sharing love love love love hearing your thoughts and
just like your key um just the wisdom that you just brought like it's just so good and it's so
amazing when i think that's one of the things we want to always do is have that dialogue with the
holy spirit and with the father like father is this good enough like is this is this pleasing
to you like with where i'm at right now are you saying in faith okay press send or post or publish
or yep like let's go you know what i mean or are you saying take a little bit more time and hey i
want you because i think the father loves to be in the dialogue with us to every minute detail you
know like i love not in a legalistic crazy religious way in a relational way that we're
talking to our best friend talking to our shepherd talking to our king talking to our god our father
our everything and so yeah involving his voice and his presence in the process is everything
and just knowing that like um the father's voice is so kind he's so kind like he's so compassionate
he's so gracious he's so loving he is like the best coach and he's intentional and so there's
obedience and there's conviction but he's not a god up there being disappointed and like a policeman
trying to like judge us like nothing ever good comes out of judgment like repentance doesn't
flow out of judgment and no good fruit comes out of judgment it actually comes out of love and it
comes out of his intention to see us be the very best and to coach us and to walk with us so i love
what you're saying because you're just being so attentive to his voice and turning your attention
towards him and inviting his voice to be the the defining factor in your creativity so i love that
and i'm so glad you're with us it's just so good to see your beautiful face so
thank you and rachel rachel wants to say something she raised and yeah rachel hi
hi how are you i'm great thank you i'm out here in california near sacramento beautiful
oh i love sacramento so um something that leandra said just uh really clicked um as i was writing my
first book um the father said to me because i kept saying i you know i'm writing this because of what
he was telling me to write but i knew that there were things i should could improve on right yeah
and i was asking him do i need to get an editor do i need to do this and you know and i'm going
down the list because you know when you're yeah in that moment yeah you want it to be perfect
because it is showing us the father's heart and he said to me no publish it now i will do the rest
and i'll tell you um i had a couple of friends that that got the book and one girlfriend was like
you don't know how much healing i got from this book um i bawled all the way through it and i was
like oh really because my intention wasn't to make you cry right and it was just having that faith
when he told me publish it now because i do the rest so even if if it doesn't seem like it's perfect
for us
It's perfect because he instructed us.
He's the one that gave us the words, the story,
the whatever, the picture.
And he does the rest in ministering to each person
that picks up that art piece, that book, that whatever poem.
Yeah.
So I just wanted to do that.
I love that, Rachel.
Good on you.
Oh, you beautiful woman.
I just love like, gosh, there's such a childlike joy in you.
And such a youthful, just like, oh,
I just can feel just the father's joy and pleasure over you
just as like his child, you know?
But I just love, I love the humility of your yes
and the humility of your obedience just to go,
okay, I could put more editing and perfection to this,
but actually what the spirit of God is saying
is to do it now and to allow him to define it
and bring fruit from that.
So amazing.
Good on you, girl.
May there be more and more anointing and fresh words
and inspiration for more writing to come.
May you just pen so much more of what's on the father's heart
for this hour of history.
So bless you.
I'm so glad that you're part of this.
Thanks for being part of this.
Is there anyone else?
Oh, Kathy.
Hey, Kathy, yeah.
Yeah, hi.
Are you able to put your video on, Kathy?
Are you there, Kathy?
Talking to me?
Hi, yeah, you've just got your hand up.
Did you wanna share something?
I didn't realize my hand was up.
Okay, no worries.
I do have a request.
Oh, yes.
I'm not an artist and I don't,
I'd like to be removed from the mailing list,
from the email list, if you wouldn't mind.
Oh, sure.
Yes, I will email our support team
and I will ask for that to happen, absolutely.
You guys be blessed and have a great day.
I've been listening to the conversation
and it sounds like you guys have a definite direction
that you're going.
And I just praise God and you guys have a great day.
Okay, you too.
Thanks, Kathy.
Have a wonderful day.
Bye.
No, I just wanted to add something with Rachel,
and even Liana said the same thing.
When I started, when I recorded my first song, right?
So after the recording, I just,
I still remember that I was actually super disappointed.
When I listened to it,
that was my very first recording
and I've been playing music for a very long time,
but I never consider myself
as a singer kind of situation.
The moment, first time I went to a studio
and literally recorded that thing,
and it was a nightmare
because I didn't like the way it sounded,
my song and stuff.
And I was very disappointed actually.
And I was actually almost in tears, you know?
I mean, yeah.
And so I was actually kind of thinking of,
okay, let's redo it.
And one of my friends,
and he's an established musician
and a pro singer kind of guy.
I actually called him and said that
this is what happened here.
He said that, I mean, that's fine
because you never, because I'm a drummer.
So I never been,
because singing is a very new territory for me.
And I think according to your vocal range
and all the stuff that you are right now,
this is the best you can do and that's okay, you know?
And it was really hard for me to accept that truth,
but later I realized that,
that's how it should treated, you know?
I mean, you can just do it like, you know,
as you are in that particular season
and moment of your life, you know?
Just do it and just move on
and start working on another thing, another project.
And when I look back to my old songs and other things,
I still feel cringe, but that's okay.
That's super okay.
Because when I, if I don't feel cringe,
means there is something wrong in me because that means actually I grow a lot as an artist,
you know, from that place to this place, from the past to present, you know, and that's what
actually it's all about. That's how you grow, you know, so to come into a piece with that
moment is actually something that I've learned. When I write a song and I see a lot of like,
you know, imperfecting, you know, should I rewrite it again and again and again, I know that it's
going to be on loop, you know, never going to finish. So in a place I have to make a choice
that, you know what, this is it. Yeah. So I'm going to just, you know, just finish this thing
and let it publish and, you know, let the people see it as it is and just go for the next one.
Yeah. That's how it is. Yeah. I think that's a beautiful thing. I think it's a very important
thing that, you know, you have to learn. Yeah. If you do want to like, you know, just do this
stuff. Yeah. Yeah. So good. Leanda, I see that you have your hand up again. We'd love to hear
from you. And then Zoe, we'll go to you after, love. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for that,
Saira. And thank you again, Dina. There's one other thing that I felt like I should say and that
while the perfectionism thing is a real thing, the Lord has also helped me in the reverse.
There were some times when I was hasty. And I, so like I do Facebook marketing stuff,
and I was going to send out an ad, a Facebook ad. And I was like, yeah, okay, we're good. We've
said all our things. We're good. And we're ready to press post. And I'm like, okay,
father, I'm going to press post. And he's like, nope. Yeah. And I'm like, no,
I was like, but it's ready. He's like, nope, nope. Check it again. And when checking it again,
I realized that my audience was off. Something had happened. And when it reset, I lost some of
the things that I had chosen before. So he stopped me from being hasty, making a wrong assumption.
So sometimes it's what's the most important piece is, because we could also be tempted to be like,
all right, let's just let, let's just do it. Just do it. The most important piece was,
is really just that sort of paying attention to his voice, whether he's saying stop or go,
you know, whether he's saying, and I feel like that's the, the part that's the most important
once we're, that's it. I, I have gotten into the trap of doing things for him instead of doing
things with him. Yes. The more I do things with him, it's the less I, I, I focus on my own opinion
because by, you know, we're all, we all have our weaknesses, our strengths and our flaws.
So, but when I do it with him and it's really, it's then he gets the glory and it really impacts
people because he really knows what people out there need. Yeah. The best we're doing is guessing.
So yeah. So to God be the glory. It's, it's always a privilege to be able to participate
with him. I don't know why he chooses us, but to do what we do, but it's, I, I do appreciate
just having the opportunity to do that and, and even having the opportunity to be here and to
meet all of you lovely people. God bless you. Oh, so good. I love that. I love that key thing.
You said not falling into the trap of doing things for God, but with God and relationship
changes, everything, hearing his voice and being sensitive. You know, I think some of the greatest
failure I've had is when I was sensing his voice or conviction or guidance, but I went with my
own mind and, or my own persuasion and it costs me dearly. And in so many different seasons, it's
going, Oh God, would every fiber of my being be attentive to your voice? And, you know, we learn,
we learn and we grow and there's so much grace, but I think just as what you said, that was so
good, not doing life for God, but with God and allowing his voice to say, push the publish or
go for it or just leave it. Or, you know, like Rachel said, you know, no publish it now. And
like, trust me for the rest or it's no, hold on, let's look at this again. And then you're like,
Oh, I'm so glad I listened because that just saved me from an error. Or now that really means that
something's going to be in alignment for my assignment or, or sometimes it is a timing issue.
And sometimes God gets you to create something, but then put it on the shelf.
We're like, no, but I just want to do it now.
And God's like, just wait.
And then it'll be like, okay, go.
And you're like, oh my gosh, I'm so glad I waited
because now that is the right time.
And other times we feel insignificant or overwhelmed
because we think, no, it has to be better.
And the Lord's like, trust me, you know?
So it's his voice, his voice is everything.
So I love that you said that.
You're such a beautiful, beautiful woman,
and I'm so glad that you're here.
Thanks for sharing.
Zoe, we'd love to hear from you, babe.
How are you?
Hello.
Hi.
I'm from the UK and I'm a painter and printmaker.
Wow.
So, yeah, so I haven't really spoken on here before,
but it was really the similar thing
that's just been said, really,
that I've learned that sometimes you have to step away
from what you're doing and not ruin it.
You know, in my impatience,
I've suddenly sometimes thought, oh, that's rubbish.
And, you know, painted over something or whatever,
but I've taken photographs
and then I've looked back at those photographs
and thought actually it wasn't as bad
as I was thinking at the time.
So it's more like taking the time
and realizing, you know, Father said to me,
there's time for me to learn the skills
that I needed to do.
So I had to go and do some training
or learning of some of the skills
because I was getting more and more frustrated
with my inability to do the things
I had in my heart to do.
Yeah.
And actually I needed to invest
in learning how to use oil paints
or learning how to do sharpened tools for line of cut
or whatever the things that were holding me back.
So there was some practical things
that Father sort of said,
this is what you need to do
in order to do what I'm calling you to do.
Yeah.
So sometimes it's actually giving yourself permission
to put, invest in yourself,
invest in training, invest in skills,
invest in connecting with people in your local area
that are doing artwork or whatever,
you know, your creativity is.
Yeah.
And this all started,
I've always been creative,
I've always written poetry,
written songs in my head,
but I've never done anything with that
apart from the odd song.
Yeah.
But I was in my thirties, I think,
and I had this dream
and I was cutting something out of my womb
and it was quite a shocking dream.
And I realized that what I was doing
was I was trying to,
like it's been said earlier,
I was trying to stop being creative
because I felt it was competing with my love for God.
And actually what Father was trying to say
is that's your creative,
you know, that's your creative space,
that's how I've made you to be.
And, you know, you need to develop that.
And it's taken me a long time.
And I've gone through all those things
that people talked about,
self-sabotage and everything else,
went to art school as a mature student,
but still was intimidated by the painters.
So I did sculpture, you know, that kind of thing.
So I've had a very long learning curve,
but now I've got to that point
where I'm just discovering
and every day I'm discovering things.
So it's more of a relationship,
as you say, with Father.
And I've actually had this encounter
with the Spirit of Excellence.
Wow.
And the Spirit of Excellence was weaving.
And she was weaving joy and peace
and restoration into people's lives,
covering them with these beautiful garments of creativity.
And so I learned a lot from that,
that there's a whole process of everything you're doing
is almost like that Spirit of Excellence
is wanting to weave this joy and this peace and this rest.
And so it's not striving anymore.
It's out of a place of rest that we create,
out of place of dreams and allowing yourself to dream,
because I think you can cut off your dreams.
And actually Father wants you to come alive
to those dreams.
So yeah.
Amazing.
So thank you so much for sharing.
Wow.
When you just started talking about the encounter
you had with the Spirit of Excellence,
I was just like,
it's like, oh Jesus, we all want that encounter.
And it made me think of John 15,
where it talks about,
Jesus was talking about abiding in the vine
and the Father is the vine and we are the branches
and, or rather the Father is the gardener
and Jesus is the vine and we are the branches.
And we can't do any good apart from him.
And the reality of as we abide in him will vary.
much fruit. And as we actually live in a place of rest, so when
you're talking about the spirit of excellence, weaving joy and
peace and rest, the fruit of the kingdom is love, joy, peace and
righteousness, you know, so when you think about that is, that is
what the fruit is, and the fruits of the spirit, and all of
that comes from a place of rest. And so much comes from that
place, but so much wars for our attention, so much distraction,
so much busyness, so much performance and striving, and,
and the very thing that we're trying to produce, if we would
just stop and be still and abide and get into a place of receive
mode, then we would produce so much more. But it goes backwards
and it's such a battle of our hearts. So thank you so much for
sharing Zoe, so amazing to hear your story. And we just pray
God's creativity and his baptism of just fresh anointing as you
paint all your paintings back there look amazing. So, so good.
And now we've got the lovely I'm so sorry, I don't know if I can
pronounce your name.
Yeah, no problem. It's Nkechi.
Nkechi. Oh, what an amazing name. I love it.
Oh, thank you. A lot of people here like Dana the way you spell
it. And I just think so many is that Zylan? Zylan?
Zylan. Okay, yeah, yeah. So I've so appreciated everything. And,
yeah, I'm just a full blown out of the box artist. God just did
that. He just, he just made it happen. And I used to be. And I
mean, I knew Jesus at the time, but I had no difference. I was
super, I don't even know how to explain it, but extremely
limited in my perspective and capacity. Because I did. I
enjoyed being perfect. And I'm just gonna say, guys, this is a
big confession, but I actually thought I was. And that was just
so shocking. I mean, it was, but I was able to be and I just, I
just had no idea how people could just be so non perfect. I
just didn't understand it. And then of course, life happens.
And, you know, thank God for his love and his provision. And, and
I already knew him, thank God. And then he just, he just, he
just revealed the beauty in imperfection. But again, that's
the I think, like everybody's saying, that's a word that we
give. Because if you just look at his humanity, I mean, all
different kinds of people, and he don't make no junk. So there
you go. Anyway, so, um, but for me, like, I went from being in a
like, engineer mindset, that's what I was trained in school.
And then he, when I got ferreted over to kind of the art side, it
was kind of an all or nothing. It was like, well, I'll either be
perfect, or I'll be just a mess, you know. And, and then he just
kind of has gently reminded me that it's not either or, you
know, I just have to flow with the go and go with the flow that
he is. And yeah, so it's, I feel kind of called out, because as
much as I know, I'm an artist, I don't, I'm not always in art
making mode. And, and then whenever he gently returns me to
that, it reminds me that my making art isn't, you know, I
definitely, I, you know, by the grace of God, I don't need the
approval of man at this point. I'm not saying I will forever,
but just for now. But I do get busy doing other things that are
just, it's like, almost, almost like, and then I'm making art,
and I'm with him. And I'm like, oh, wait, this is about you and
I. Because like, you know, so the making of it is the time
that I get to abide in him in a different way than I do in a lot
of things. So, you know, I'm at this crossroads, once again,
where he's like, I feel like he's saying, fuck about water,
like,
all coming. Um, yeah, so he just, he's always like, he's
like, just step out, you know, because I already know I'm an
artist. So then I'm like, Oh, well, since I know I am, and
whenever the spirit moves, I'll make art, but then I'm doing all
these other things. And so he's kind of gently, not gently, very
loudly, reminding me that, you know, from that place of love,
what you guys were talking about, I mean, this is this is
I mean, if I mean, of course, God is so amazing. But that word
perfectionism was kind of in my psyche for the last like two or
three days, as I was interacting with someone who was kind of
demanding perfection, and I knew it and I was like, Oh, I want to
be excellent.
but not perfect. And I just was like, I didn't know how to
respond to them in a loving way. So I just not said anything. And
now I have words. But yeah, to produce from a place of love and
identity. And, and I'll just the last thing I'll say is that, you
know, I really, I love helping people. It's experience making
art for the first time the freedom that comes when they can
just be messy for a minute. And just be free and not judgy. And
just experience it from the making of it. Yes. And, and so
then I think that, like I said, there's, there's the, you know,
there's, there's the giving it value. But this last thing I'll
just say about Ape love, one of the things about God's love is
that he imbues value. So it's not, he's not getting value from
the thing. Like, you know, romantic love, family love, like
there's all these different kinds of loves. And he when he
asked, he's like, Do you love me? Yeah. And a copy. So we
imbue value. And so what you were talking about the
intention, if it's made out of toil, or whatever, we've been
building a not good value to that thing. And so we want to
imbue it with good value, right? joy and delight. And it's good
to and it's good to work. I mean, it's good to have like
goals and all that. I mean, it's good to have that. But it's so
countercultural to do it from a place of love. I mean, everything
you're saying, I'm going like, Oh, these are the words like
celebration all the time. You're like, that's hard. So anyway, so
I just bless you guys. I've just loved everything I'm hearing.
And I'm super delighted. Raising royalty. I mean, like, come on,
this is just too good. It's too good. Okay. Thank you.
And catchy. Thank you so much for sharing. That was so good to
hear your heart and incredible to hear part of your journey.
It's just amazing. From engineer to creative. And I think that's
the beautiful thing is that every human is creative. Every
human is an artist because we're made in the image of the artist.
And so actually, you need to be creative to do everything in
life, to have relationships to do your finances to do food to
decorate your home, to dress yourself like we need creativity
in our humanity and everything that we do. And so it's just
allowing, like we've been saying, it's all about relationship.
It's all about his voice. It's all about his presence.
Everything comes back to intimacy and identity. And when
we have when we actually connect more with him and receive that
love that love transforms and inspires every aspect of our
being and we then just become more inspired and more creative
because we've just spent time with the creator. So man, yeah,
that's and that's, that's exactly like, that's one of the
ways that you know, I refuel and it's not always my go to. And
it's like, oh, paint, yes, or dance or strum the guitar. In
the same way we do nursery school with the kids, you know,
nursery, we're on Sundays, we're like, we have our little
sections, like food, okay, and time for music. And I'm like,
yeah, everything learned in kindergarten. Like, oh, yeah,
you do that. Yeah. You know, so yeah, but I agree the creative
that there is. Yeah, we are. And, you know, it's kind of like
you were saying, we don't expect a two year old who's learning
to walk to be, you know, an Olympic runner. So we have to
give ourselves that same grace that we're in a journey with
him. And, and he's creator God and we're created in his image.
So yeah, but but there is still skill people do have
dispensations of things that they do better than other and
that's okay. That's, yeah, that's not a bad thing to know
that, you know. So anyway, that's it.
Good. Love it. So good. Thanks for sharing and catching. So
glad that you're here with us today. So good to see you. Well,
our beautiful friends, I think we are going to wrap it up. If
there's anyone else that would like to share one thing or to
ask a question, we'll kind of make room for one more. And if
not, we are going to just wrap up our conversation today. And
we do these once a month. So we started three months ago. And
every month, we'll have like a different theme that we talked
about. And so usually, we also have Fee, our amazing artists,
who is a part of our community, but he was unable to join us
today, but he will hopefully be with us next month. So we'll be
emailing out on the Raising Royalty community. And we'll be
letting you know, and it'll also be on our Facebook group, like
on the Raising Royalty masterclass page in the
creative place. Dylan does an incredible job of updating that
with just different incredible
posts and articles and ideas and then also announcements. So we'll be doing another
creative chat in middle of January. So if there's anybody else that wants to just quickly
ask a question or say something. Oh, Rachel. Yeah.
Just really quick. It just I just thought of this. Kathy may not have understood that
it's like a massive email that goes out to everyone and you can join whatever. So maybe
before she's taken off, somebody could let her or make her aware.
Yeah, I'll email her personally and just yeah, I'll text me. So thanks, though. Thank you so
much for that. Anybody else want to ask a question or quickly share something on our topic today?
No worries, if not. I'm so glad all of you have joined. Thank you so much for taking
time out of your day. Oh, Lisa, you wanted to say something?
Yeah. Can I just say and ask everyone either to look in the chat or or I'll just tell you
if they this is a course that the Lord led me to do when I started painting a couple of years ago.
So it's called CVP with Nicholas Wilton. OK, it's in the chat, but I don't know if you've
got time to look at it or you can join their join their Facebook group. And it's up to life
and you can the CVP is like three months online. OK, and that's just a free one shorter,
but it's brilliant. Oh, wow. I think so. Yeah. Thank you so much. Yeah. For anybody that is
a painter or wants to kind of take a look at that, please do check out the chat.
It's in the chat box. Yeah. Art to Life Facebook group or get blogs from Nick Wilton. So that's
awesome. Thank you for sharing that, Lisa. That's great. We always love it when people
just share different things that they can take a look at in their free time and kind of.
Yeah. Can I just say another thing the Lord led me to after he did this was to Matt Tommy, who
he what he said the Lord had caused him asked him to raise up an army of Christian artists.
And he used to be a worship leader. But but something he shared was that before David,
the king came, the dancers came, all the creatives. And he had. Yeah. And so there
was all these creatives. He had hundreds and thousands of them in his group, in his Facebook
group. But it's just amazing. So all these creatives coming up. Yeah. So great. Love it.
So good. Thanks, Lisa. Yeah. It's amazing.
OK, so beautiful people, we are going to say massive love to you all. Hope you have
Merry Christmas and a good Christmas. Hope the next like two weeks of your holidays as you go
into the end of the year. I really pray that there would be. Yeah, just a sacred just a really sacred
I'm just a really sacred time that in the midst of the busyness of work, of friends, family,
festivities, I really pray that there would be some carved out time that you'd be able to have
with the father and with Jesus. And I know it can become such a really busy time. And so
just want to encourage you from a sister to some other sisters and brothers to yeah,
to carve out some time and just to put down the phone or just to take some of that time just to
yeah, be with the audience of one and just minister straight to his heart and even just
allowing him not with an agenda, but just with like Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus and pouring
forth her ointment and her love and her devotion, just taking that time, whether it's five minutes,
10 minutes, 30 minutes, whatever it looks like for you going on a walk, being on your knees,
having worship plane, soaking lane on a floor or your bedroom or whatever it looks like just
to have that intimate connection, whatever authenticity and intimacy looks like for you,
just really want to encourage you as you go into the new year, as you end one year really shifts
and it makes an impact on how you enter the next season. I remember someone saying that as you exit
one season, do it to the best of your ability, because it really sets the tone for you to enter
your next season. And so I believe that is also true of one year to the next year. And so I pray
that over you all. I just pray, father, in the name of Jesus, would you just release fresh anointing?
God, I pray for such sovereign encounters in the day and in the night. I pray as they sleep,
that you would release dreams and visions, that you would be speaking to each one of us. I pray
that you would release angels, your ministering spirits. Jesus, would you come and speak to us?
Would you?
revive our hearts, awaken our hearts.
Jesus, as we honor that God is with us, Emmanuel,
that you put on flesh, that the humility,
that you came as a baby, that you grew
and you showed us what the Father was like.
You displayed what true love looked like
and redemption and restoration
and healing and breakthrough, God.
You redeemed our humanity
and you led us back to the Father.
We just honor you now.
We worship you.
And we just ask, Father,
that you would be just releasing your love
in increasing measure.
So we ask for your healing, your restoration,
your redemption, your inspiration, God.
Would you come and infuse us with creativity?
Would you lift off weariness and fatigue,
depression, anxiety, fear,
things that have weighed us down
and tripped us up in this last season?
God, I thank you that your healing and redemption
and forgiveness is real.
And I just pray for freedom.
I pray for liberty.
I pray for strength.
I pray for fresh anointing.
I pray that we would feel more alive than ever before.
I pray that you would put a fresh new song in our spirit,
that you would fill us up, God,
that you put fresh love in our hearts, God.
Come with your reviving love.
Yeah.
Lead us in relationship.
Lead us by your voice and your presence into the fullness.
Lead us into our promised land.
Lead us into the great reward.
Lead us into the good works
that you've prepared in advance for us.
Lead us into dreams and visions and desires fulfilled, God.
We just declare abundance and provision
and breakthrough and anointing, God,
and the fullness of God towards us in Jesus' name.
Amen.
In Jesus' name.
Wow.
Amen.
Thank you.
God bless you.
So good.
God bless you.
Thank you, guys.
Thank you.
So I will be-
Thank you, guys.
Uploading this and putting it
on our Facebook creative page
on the Facebook Raising Royalty page.
So if you ever want to watch the replay
and hear all the golden gems
that the team and Zylan was sharing,
then you can hop on over and watch the replay.
And so all of you that have watched the replay,
we love you, we bless you.
And then all of you beautiful people,
have an amazing weekend.
Hallelujah.
Yeah.
Thank the Lord.
Blessings.
Have a great 2022.
Yes.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Be blessed, beloveds.
Yeah.
Thank you.
Blessing.
Yes.
God bless everybody.
Have a superb blessed holiday.
Amen.
God bless everyone.
Bless you, guys.
Thank you.
Much love.
Have a great day.
Thank you, everybody.
I received those blessings.
You did.
I know.
Good.
Bless you, guys.
Bye.