"Faith is the art of holding on to things in spite of your changing moods and circumstances."
— C. S. Lewis
Irish Writer & Novelist
1898 - 1963
Commentary
Creative leaders need a lot of faith because they live in a very negative, sometimes hostile world, that often does not understand or appreciate their work. I have been writing seriously for almost forty years and have yet to receive acceptance and recognition for the work I have produced. Another person might have quit many years ago, but I keep plugging away.
Do you have faith in your creative ideas? Your poems? Your stories? Your paintings? Your ability to become another person on stage? Do you have dark days when you want to quit and live a normal life? Faith keeps us going even everything and everybody around us are telling us to give up — that we have no talent, no gift.
Where does your faith come from? What keeps you going during those darkest of hours? Why do you believe in your ideas?
Creative Practice
This week think about what faith means to your artistic endeavors. Why is faith in yourself and your creative work important? Why must you believe in yourself? Write for ten minutes on the importance of faith. Or paint a picture of what faith means to you.
Biography
Clive Staples Lewis was born in Belfast, Ireland to Albert James Lewis and Florence Augusta Hamilton Lewis. When he was four, his dog, Jacksie, was killed and he began calling himself Jacksie and would not answer to any other name. He was known as Jack to his family and friends the rest of his life.
Jack loved animals as a child and read the Beatrix Potter's stories. He wrote and illustrated his own animal stories as a child. His mother died from cancer when he was ten. Jack developed a love of Norse, Greek and Irish mythology. At the age of 18 he was awarded a scholarship to University College, Oxford and a year later dropped out to join the British Army during World War I. He resumed his studies when the war was over.
Lewis became an atheist at 15 and it took many years to restore his faith in God. He converted in Christianity at 33.
C. S. Lewis was a prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction. His close friends included J. R. R. Tolkien. His Chronicles of Narnia (seven fantasy novels for children) is a classic of children's literature. The series has sold over 100 million copies and has been translated into 41 languages.
