A Letter to my Younger Self

WORDS | KALLIE GARRET
PHOTOS + LETTERING | SAM PALENCIA

You have never called yourself an artist. When people ask, you say things like, “No, I can’t draw to save my life.” But your definition of being an artist is so limited.

Until you realize that you are made in the image of God, the first and ultimate Creator, it will be hard to believe that you can create and that what you create has worth and purpose.

You are a possessor of the Imago Dei; you were made to create.

You will learn over the years that God not only created you in His Image, but also has given you an avenue to create something beautiful yourself. You will struggle with comparison, jealousy, insecurity, and fear – but you must keep on creating. Do not let the world miss out on your message, or let yourself miss out on the world’s beauty.

Art, as I have learned, is seeing, creating, and sharing beauty with a world that seems to miss it.

What I want for my words is for them to meet people in their struggle, to help them find air to breathe for even just a moment, and to see the way God is working all around us.

There are two types of creating. One is creating something out of nothing. The other is creating beauty out of a mess.

God has done both of these with humanity. He created us out of nothing, and He redeems us from our sin into our true selves. We get to take part in His creative work of making all things new. We are not only witnesses, but also participants, in His masterpiece of redemption. A sculpture is not defined by what it once was, but what it is as a finished product. In the same way, we are not defined or identified by what we once were (sinful), but by what we are now: redeemed, renewed, remade.

The greatest art that you will ever create is your life. When we view our life as a work of art, it changes how we go about living and loving. You are both an artist and a magnificent work of art.

 

WHEN YOU FEEL LIKE A FAILURE, OR THAT YOUR WORDS DON’T MATTER, REMEMBER THIS:

• You are His own; therefore you have great value and worth.

• You are made in His Image; therefore you are an artist.

• You are His masterpiece; therefore you are capable of creating a masterpiece.