In the last few weeks of my Book Arts class, there was much talk of which forms we were going to use for our final projects. Some people decided on the traditional folio form, while others chose to create a book in the very loosest sense of the word (see the following for clarification on that last category: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Yam_(artist%27s_book, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Brian_Dettmer_New_Books_of_Knowledge.jpg). On the description card that was to accompany our final projects in the library display, we had to indicate the media we chose to use to create our projects. The media and the form were to be rooted deeply in the significance of the project.
The word "media" is one of those words that keeps the same meaning but has a different significance in every genre, generation, and general subject category. Media are the tools people use to create and communicate. In a workshop I attended this morning, we talked about influences of "the media," referring to music, TV, movies, commercials, and other techonologic forms. We can certainly discuss the negative in media today, and we often do so.
Providing examples of good media, the man leading the workshop showed us clips of a movie with good values and a movie that exposed the behind-the-scenes of fahion/pornography media. Then he clicked through his presentation to pictures of nature. "The earth is God's media," he said. "It is the expression of His creativity." His creativity comes in the perfection in nature, the scenes that take our breath away, the elements that keep us alive, and the places we seek to be uplifted, enjoy solitude and receive inspiration. And here is my interpretation: If we are training to be like God and use our creative powers as He intends them to be used, we will follow the hints of nature as the results we're going for.
To create is to have power. I'm spending lots of beautiful time with my new niece, Genevieve Harmon. It's recently struck me that God trusts us enough that we're given the God-like power to create life. Women are even given the power to sustain it for the first little while.
To create is to use our talents. We have the potential to create every day. I feel blessed that I am wordsmithing text every day to be used by the Humanitarian and Welfare projects of the Church. Grounded firmly in the simplest of doctrines, my writing is meant to communicate the joys of service, the fruits of faith and action, and the miracles that come from hand of the Lord and through His earthly servants.
To create is to give.
So folks, choose your media. Choose the media you use for inspiration and entertainment, and choose the media you use to create. But choose wisely; what we are exposed to becomes our preparation for the bigger and better things we are destined for.
