Why You Need to Listen to These 3 Heartbeats Every Day
Poet and spoken-word artist John Englezos emphasizes the importance of being still and resting in God’s presence in order to thrive creatively.
“I say that the job of the artist is to listen to three heartbeats,” Englezos says. “You know, you have to put your finger on the pulse of the city, put your head against the big chest of God and then listen to what your heart is saying and speak that. There’s going to be places of unison there, and I want to speak that unison and, you know, the desire of people’s hearts and the desire of God is actually really close together often.”
But getting to where Englezos is now was not an easy road; he wrestled as God allowed for his dream to be a photographer to slip through his fingers, he says on the The Thriving Christian Artist podcast on the Charisma Podcast Network.
“In 2010 was probably the most solid attempt that I had to go out there and say, ‘Yes, I’m going to make it as a photographer, I’m gonna say yes to gigs and get the studio and build the folio and shake all the hands,'” Englezos says. “And what ended up happening instead was, you know, I ended up being physically assaulted in a club and spending six months curled up in a ball and eating chocolate biscuits.
“You know, the reality is that, the plans that I can have, and my sense of going and making it, haven’t held up, haven’t held sway. God has been incredibly generous with placing people around me, who have been an encouragement, that have helped me, to let me grieve when I needed to grieve.”
To listen to the rest of the episode titled “Hope, Identity and Wonder: A Conversation with Spoken Word Artist, John Englezos,” click here.
