Wednesday, December 2, 2015

A Renewed You in 2016: The Challenge of Change


Marcus Miller @Ralph Basui Watkins
To be new or to renew ourselves we have to take on new challenges.  When we put ourselves in situations that challenge us they change us if we don’t fight the process.  The process:
  1. Identify the challenge
  2. Accept the challenge
  3. Fully commit yourself over the long haul to follow through and complete the assignment
  4. Approach the task with an ethic of hard work, discipline and excellence

My new challenge is to develop my craft and work as a photographer / visual storyteller.  To this end I am starting a new challenge this year.  The new challenge is to tell the story of jazz in Atlanta.  I am embarking on this challenge because of my love for jazz and how I see this music. It isn’t music that I simply listen to but rather it is music that moves me.  It moves me as I experience this music with all of my senses.

My goal in this project is to share with the world the texture, layers and beauty of live music.  The images will be those of spiritual music.  Images from churches, clubs and concert halls.  Jazz, gospel and blues because I believe they are from one strand.  I am also exploring jazz and improvisation as a metaphor for life and ministry.  This project stands to change how I see and experience the music that I love.  To have to go out late at night and shoot pictures and capture video is a real challenge for me.  I like to get up at 4:30 a.m. every morning to start my day.  To do what I sense I have been called to do will require a complete reordering of my life and schedule. 

I invite you to walk along with me on this journey.  I would also encourage you to take time out as we come to the end of this year and ponder what new challenges you will take on in 2016.  If you want to be new you have to things that renew you.  What are you going to do to renew you?
Marcus Miller @Ralph Basui Watkins


Marcus Miller @Ralph Basui Watkins