Tackling Our Invisible Scripts
What are the stories you've been telling ourselves about you, your art, God, and more?
I was watching a video by author and financial educator Ramit Singh Sethi where he talked about invisible scripts. He explains that invisible scripts are the stories we tell ourselves that become ingrained in our psychology. In his field, these scripts are the stories we tell ourselves about money. He says, “How you think about money will determine how you act with money.”
I was excited to share this video with you because these ‘invisible scripts’ are something we tackle here in KAI, and it was awesome to hear someone speak about this from another field and frame.
In our book, Defying Discord, I write the following in talking about experiencing harmony between our faith, art, and career:
When thinking about this idea of harmony, the Lord gave me the image of pruning. Pruning involves removing dead, diseased, and decayed parts of a tree to facilitate its growth. It also involves removing weak parts of the tree that are prone to damage. He posed this question to me: does pruning the tree cause it to grow? The answer is no. Pruning does not make the tree grow. The tree already has the natural capacity to grow, and it will grow as long as nothing is hindering it from growing. Pruning removes the hindrances so the tree can do what is natural for it to do.
In the same way, harmony is a natural process within us. In God, harmony will happen in our lives as long as there is nothing hindering it from happening. The problem with us experiencing harmony is that there are things hindering this natural process from progressing within us.
There's actually just one hindrance: perception.
As career-minded artists, we struggle with carrying divisive, unfruitful beliefs about the relationship between our faith and art career. This is understandable after seeing all the opinions, expectations, and experiences we have to navigate. Regardless of the reason, the beliefs create the hindrance and have to be pruned so harmony between faith and art, and artist and God, can thrive. To remove the hindrance, we have to tackle the beliefs.
Ramit asks his viewers what stories they’re telling themselves about money that are keeping them from the financial life they want. In the same way, we ask you what stories you’re telling yourself about the relationship between your art, faith, and career that’s keeping you from the relationship and art life you desire.
What are the stories you’re telling yourself about who you are as an artist, how God sees your creative expression and pursuits, and your place in Kingdom community? These stories affect how we take space in our faith walk, artmaking, and career-building.
Changing the Story
Ramit goes on to say you start to change the story in these invisible scripts by changing the words you use @ 2:05. In KAI, we do this by shifting a foundational question artists ask: How do I integrate my faith and art? Instead of focusing on bridging a separation, we change that question to How do I show up as the complete picture of who you’ve made me in all parts of this path you’ve set me on? How do I walk and work as the whole artist I already am?
These invisible scripts hold us back from the things we truly desire in areas of our lives. This makes me think of something the Lord showed me about Romans 12:2, where it admonishes us to be “transformed by the renewing of [our minds], that [we] may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (NKJV). Before you can give evidence of what God desires in your life, you have to change your mind about some things. You have to let the Spirit of God change the way you think about yourself, and show you who you are in Him—
Think again…
Here is a short excerpt from a talk I gave that shares some questions to help you engage with the Holy Spirit about changing the invisible scripts, the stories you’ve been telling yourself about you, your art, God, and the Kingdom and art communities with which you engage. (forgive the audio!)
I’d love to hear your thoughts about tackling your invisible scripts!
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—-Marlita