I love that in order to make something beautiful, you have to make a mess first. It's a beautiful metaphor for life and especially for my life right now. At this time of the year, the to-do list is long and stress runs high, which means that friendships can be messy, homes can be messy, and desks can be messier and messier. When I sit down to do a puzzle or make a scarf or mosaic or really anything creative, I spread all my stuff out and proceed to make the biggest mess I know how. Eventually, this disaster becomes something with shape and form and, finally, some sort of beauty. Similarly, when paper-writing begins, my desktop is a mess of articles and drafts, and as I work I try to make some sort of sense out of the chaos that will (hopefully) turn into a reasonably understandable piece of creativity and research. As I start my next big project, the writing of my "obra maestra", my thesis, I'm sure that it will be a messy process, but I'm excited about both the mess and the outcome, remembering that sometimes the beauty is in the process itself. Today I'm thanking Jesus for making beauty out of chaos through his redemption of all things messy!
