Joey O'Connor's Blog, page 6
November 28, 2013
Thanksgiving is Good for Your Health
Thanksgiving Grace is an inspiring video produced by Mark Perez & Grove Films.
Click here to watch now.
No matter how much you eat this Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving is good for your health. I’m not talking about massive amounts of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes or a second helping of pumpkin pie.
I want to invite you to a much more satisfying meal that’s good for your health: a Thanksgiving of the heart. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever. (Psalm 118:1) A steady...
November 22, 2013
Meet Our Artist Friends at The Grove
For the past week, we’ve been hammering away on creating a lot of great new content on The Grove Center for the Arts & Media’s website. Now, I’d like to introduce you to many of our artist friends who are a part of our Grove Community. One of our goals with The Grove is to become a collaborative, creative hub for artists to develop greater community with one another. We do that through our monthly Grove Gatherings, Artists Getaways, and creating Grove Online Classes & content for many of you...
October 25, 2013
Becoming A Thriving Artist
As you think about your creative work and walk with God, have you ever asked yourself, “What does it take to become a THRIVING artist?” How does an artist thrive personally, professionally and spiritually? It’s been a question that’s been muddling around in my mind a lot the past month. The Lord keeps impressing on my heart the word… thrive.
It’s one thing to be alive. It’s a whole other thing to thrive. In the 12 acre organic lemon and avocado grove I work and oversee, there are parts of the...
October 9, 2013
On Gratitude
Gratitude will help us to be thankful for life as it is, not how we wish it or expect it to be.
Question: What are you grateful for today?
David Zailer
Our Journey Home: Insights & Inspirations for Christian Twelve Step Recovery (Laguna Niguel: Operation Integrity, 2011), 288
CommentsOn Gratitude by Joey O'ConnorRelated StoriesStay Focused on Your Finish LineAre You Cultivating Sweetness?I Love Being the Father of the Bride
October 7, 2013
Stay Focused on Your Finish Line
Two weeks ago, I had to keep telling myself to stay focused on my finish line. I was slugging it out in the half-marathon portion of the 70.3 Ironman triathlon event in Augusta, Georgia. Earlier that morning, I swam 1.2 miles and rode 56 miles through the South Carolina and Georgia countryside, but now my legs were saying, “Enough!” At least I had two legs to run on. (Don’t mock the tights…I get enough from my eighth grader!)
Whether you are in a race or not, when you’re struggling, perspectiv...
October 3, 2013
Can Age Produce Beauty? Artistic Legends at Work
If you want to see artistic legends at work and the undeniable truth that age can produce beauty, you’ll want to check out this brilliant photo series in the recent issue of Time Magazine, When Age Produces Beauty. In my previous post, Creativity and the Art of Living Longer, I wrote about artists doing what they love and still thriving in their seventies, eighties and nineties. Today, I want to share these living artistic legends with you and their thoughts on creativity, art, and cultivatin...
October 2, 2013
Creativity and the Art of Living Longer
On a recent flight home from Atlanta, I read a fascinating article in Time magazine entitled, The Art of Living: It May Be No Coincidence that So Many Creative Types Have Long Lives. The article focused on creativity, longevity and how doing what you love can add years to your life. Whether you’re young or middle-aged, if you want to cultivate a beautiful life long into your later years, now is the time to pursue your creative God-given gifts. It is no hidden fact that the active, busy and cr...
September 21, 2013
Your Elusive Creative Genius-Elizabeth Gilbert
Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the bestselling Eat, Pray, Love that came out a few years ago has some remarkable things to say about creativity, genius, writing and the creative life. Though I was not a big fan of the book and all the accompanying merchandising that came with the movie, I do appreciate her honest search for integrating her creative and spiritual life.
In this remarkable TED talk, Gilbert offers a few intriguing insights into the artistic myth of genius and points to the source...
September 17, 2013
3 Steps to Marketing Your Art
How can you take solid, deliberate steps to market your art with confidence and professionalism? In this guest post by artist and marketing consultant, Margot Rogers, you will learn 3 practical steps to help you market your art in a way that fits for you. If you’d like more tools to cultivate your marketing skills, I’d like to invite you to join me this Thursday, September 19 when I interview Margot for Marketing Your Art with Margot Rogers. This one-hour online class (phone and web) by The G...
September 9, 2013
Are You Cultivating Sweetness?
This past Saturday, I was picking oranges at The Grove. I was in a bit of a rush and eager to get home, so when I plucked a juicy one off the tree, an unexpected thing happened. The sweet, tangy smell wafted to my nose and immediately woke my senses. Wow, I thought. Sweet… as in sah-weet! Read on…
That aromatic moment caused me to slow down, take in the life bursting all around me and remind myself not to forget the sweetness right in front of my face.
And so, instead of rushing home, I slowed...
