The Artisan Soul: Crafting Your Life Into A Work Of Art
Written by Tommy O'Brien (Editor)
McManus explores the vast depths of creativity and its relationship to the human soul.
ERWIN RAFAEL MCMANUS
Erwin Rafael McManus is an iconoclast known as a cultural pioneer for his integration of creativity and spirituality. He has earned a BA in Psychology from UNC Chapel Hill, a Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Theological Seminary, and a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Southeastern University.
TOMMY O’BRIEN
Tommy O’Brien is currently finishing his BA in Communication Studies at Biola University. He is a model, writer, and volunteers working with high school students in Boyle Heights.
Perhaps the most terrifying sight to any artist is that of a blank canvas. The writer stares at an empty page. The sculptor approaches a disfigured block of clay. The musician waits patiently in silence for some harmonious tune to trickle through the mind, sonically translating an emotion he or she has been wrestling with for months on end. The artist is both liberated by endless possibilities of creativity and haunted by memories of past failure, much less by the fear of failing again.
A similar experience presents itself to every human as they peer out the window into their future: the blank canvas of life. Life presents to us a collection of character-defining adversities that call for moments of courage, or little sprigs of hope that adversity could be overcome.
This is the life of an artisan. It is the great predicament of The Artisan Soul.
In his best-selling book, “The Artisan Soul”, McManus explores the vast depths of creativity and its relationship to the human soul. He believes each person is designed to create in a manner distinct from any other species. Whether this creative act is expressed in the form of fine art, business, education, or play, McManus argues that human beings have the unique ability to create futures. Still yet, it is not without courage, discipline, and the will to move past failure that one might begin to step into the freedom of living a life they have always dreamed of.
This conversation has been unleashed in communities throughout the city of Los Angeles and is now beginning to echo all over the world with hope to restore a societal belief of intrinsic human creativity and ultimately, human value.
Humans are a peculiar and intricately fashioned bunch, capable of great things.
It is with my utmost hope that humanity would begin to create and initiate a positive future by embracing what McManus titles, The Artisan Soul.