Life as a Dare

Making Every Moment Count

Do we expect too little of the Christian music industry?

I recently read an article by Shai Linne about Christian rap, and it was really good. Seriously, I thought it made amazing points, and I highly recommend check it out.

If you don’t read it, though, the point he’s making is that we, as Christians, are so quick to latch onto any celebrity that uses God’s name once because “HE’S CHRISTIAN!!!!! OUR HOPES AND DREAMS HAVE COME TO FRUITION!”

And in essence, this is just us mirroring the Israelites all those thousands of years ago, asking God for a king.

Again, it was a great article. 

But it really made me start to think about the Christian music industry as it is today.

Here’s a bit of my background with music. Age 0-12 I pretty much exclusively listened to WOW hits, and then WOW hits for kids. Still love that 90’s worship to this day. From 12-16 I pretty much exclusively listened to Christian pop/rock. Skillet, TFK, Krystal Meyers (still one of my favourites, actually), BarlowGirl, Relient K, the classics. You name it, I had all the albums.

Age 16 is when I started really learning how to play guitar. It became my love. And as I was trying to find songs to play on guitar and piano that were really fun to learn and had real musicality behind them, I simply didn’t find a lot with the Christian artists that everyone was listening to. I generally could learn to play any song in an hour tops, found they didn’t require a ton of skill, and once you learned one, you kind of learned them all.

I wanted something that would really challenge me musically. So I started listening to secular music. Rock music was a big one for me. My guitar teacher and dad introduced me to classic rock artists and I’ve been hooked ever since. The sheer skill it takes to play those songs blows me away every time. And I’ve been trying to learn some riffs for 4 years and I still don’t have them.

That’s a far cry from being able to play a song in one afternoon when I had only been playing guitar for a year and a half. 

So since I was 16, the only Christian music I’ve listened to (other than worship music–we’re not talking about worship music here, just pop/rock/punk rock/etc) is my old Krystal Meyers albums, because her music has so many emotional ties for me. (Plus, I just genuinely like her sound.)

I think that in general, as Christian artists, we have forgotten a part of our call.

Obviously the first priority in anything we do is always to point people towards Jesus. Doesn’t matter how great or how terrible your music is. If it’s not pointing people to Jesus, you’ve missed something. And I’m not saying it needs to be explicitly Christian in terms of lyrics–anyone who’s listened to classical music can attest to that. But that’s not usually where Christian artists slip up. Usually they’re really good at pointing people to Jesus through their lyrics. But often it becomes so “Christian” that it doesn’t seem real anymore.

I’m talking about this from a Christian artist’s perspective, too. Christian authors/bloggers have the same problem. Many of the people I follow and the fiction books I read aren’t Christian, because I find them much more relatable without the “Jesus shield” that a lot of Christians have. If you talk about God enough, you never have to talk about your own struggles, or admit that everything isn’t perfect. But that’s a post for another day.

Do we expect too little of the Christian music industry?

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But often where we go wrong in the Christian arts world is that we focus so much on the message that we sacrifice quality.

In my opinion, as soon as you slap the “Christian” label on something everyone’s threshold for quality drops by a significant amount. Just look at a lot of Christian movies if you don’t believe me when it comes to music. This is a big problem in our area of the arts world.

But the fact of the matter is that most Christian music that’s popular today would not be popular in the competitive secular market. I’ve heard time and time again, “Hey, that’s good music for a Christian artist.” And that makes me so frustrated. It’s as if we’ve started to use the “Christian” label as a short-cut, because we know we can get away with creating lower quality products because Christians will buy it simply because of that label.

I just don’t understand why we should settle for lower quality when, in reality, we should have better quality music because it’s inspired by God. God is the ultimate creator, so shouldn’t we have something extra than what non-Christian artists, since we’re more in tune with His Spirit?

How can Christian music improve, and how can we help support its artists?

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I believe that we have forgotten how to “become all things to all men.”

Listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23:

19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone,to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews.To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

I think this is where our problem lies. We’re good at slapping the Christian label on things. We’ve got that down. What we’re struggling with is understanding how to become applicable to the world without losing our gospel message. 

Do we expect too little from Christian music? How could Christian music become a better way to reach people? Here are some thoughts.I would love to see Christian artists who proclaimed a gospel message who were actually popular not only among Christians, but also the rest of the world simply because their music was so dang good you couldn’t ignore it. But the way that the industry is now, I just don’t see that happening.

I’m not saying become one with the secular world–not at all. I’m just saying, in terms of skill, musicality, and the expectations we have on the quality of music we produce, let’s get on their level. Because let’s face it–they’re doing better than we are in those areas.

I also want to make it clear that I think that publishing/production industries are also at fault here.

I’m not trying to pin everything on the artist. An artist can only do so much if no one will sign them, and record companies are unwilling to sign “risky” artists, because the market is so small. Instead, they go for “safe” options, the ones with that distinct “Christian” sound. This creates a really bland music market. No one’s allowed to take risks.

This is a bit of a chicken-and-the-egg kind of situation for me. Was there always just a smaller market, which led record companies to only take “safe” options in an attempt to appeal to the most people in that market? Or did companies signing only distinctly “Christian” (in terms of musical genre) artists lead to the market shrinking? I have no idea, personally.

So I guess the question becomes, how do we support indie Christian artists who are really in it for the music? And that’s honestly a question–I want your opinion. Because I’m not sure how to find them, where to look, or anything like that. But I want to see the Christian music industry really find its legs–and I think that’s very possible, because there are some crazily talented Christian artists out there, I just know it. We just need to be better at finding them.

So now it’s time for you to tell me what you think. Do you like the Christian music industry right now? How can we support Christian artists who are willing to take risks? Are there any up-and-coming artists who are really quite amazing, and you think deserve more credit? Tell me in the comments and we can chat about it!

Do we expect too little from Christian music? How could Christian music become a better way to reach people? Here are some thoughts.

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DISCLAIMERS: (before you yell at me in the comments, read these ;) )

Christian music is an important industry, and it’s doing great things for so many people. This isn’t meant to bash what’s currently happening. This is meant to be a call to action for artists to start branching out for some of us who listen to music for more than just the message. The message is obviously of upmost importance, but I firmly believe the artistry is also important. Someone told me, when talking about creating Christian art, “Because we’re doing it from God, we should have access to even more inspiration [than the secular world] because we’re communing with the Creator — the ultimate artist.” Completely agree.

If you listen to Christian music and enjoy it, awesome! I’m honestly, completely happy for you, and you keep supporting those musicians! :) Also, I have a blog post about study playlists that include all Christian music if you want to check that out!

What I’m saying here does not apply to every single Christian artist, and I know that. I also have almost no knowledge about the Christian rap world, so I’d love to know if it’s the same or different over there! But while there are always people who are the exception, I do think that the general rule applies here.

What Mental Health Awareness Does Wrong

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Here in Canada, Bell hosts a “Let’s Talk” Mental Health Awareness day every year where people are encouraged to share their stories, be open with their struggles, and all around engage in community. I think it’s a great initiative, and a wonderful idea.

But I want to post something a bit more controversial for Bell’s “let’s talk” day today.

And it’s going to come from the heart, so not too much editing here. Apologies in advance.

As probably 80% of you know, I’ve always been very high-strung and anxious. I’m pretty sure I would qualify for a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder. Right now I’m lucky to have it be relatively manageable and it doesn’t bother me as much on a daily basis.

It wasn’t always like that, though. In my third year of university, I was having up to 5 panic attacks a week for three months straight (October, November, December) and then it dipped down to about 2 or 3 a week for the second semester. This continued throughout my fourth year of university. On top of all of that, of course, there was my ever-present anxiety.

Due to extreme anxiety and panic attacks that left me physically and mentally exhausted, I started to re-experience depression, something I had thought I was finally over after battling it for a long time. Honestly, the disappointment in the fact that I was experiencing depression again is ironically one of the things that I think made it worse.

On top of it all, I was dealing with planning a wedding and then being a newlywed, all of which is relatively stressful in and of itself but is made 10x worse when you feel like everything you’re doing is making everyone hurt and angry and when you’re acting like your own worst enemy because you feel like you simply can’t control anything. Your thoughts, your actions, your surroundings–it’s all out of your control. And that was very scary for me. (Having Connor definitely helped a ton–he is my biggest support, and when I say planning a wedding and being married I don’t me that he was stressful–just adjusting to the new role was.)

I’m saying all this just to say, look, I get it. I completely get it. But there is something that really bothers me about a lot of mental health awareness. I think that there’s a message that is missing. And it’s this:

Your mental illness is not an excuse.

I’m not saying push harder and push past it, and I’m definitely not saying that it isn’t to be paid attention to. I’m simply saying we need to stop allowing ourselves to be defined by whatever we suffer with. One of my biggest regrets was that I limited myself based on what I thought someone with anxiety or depression or panic disorder could/would do–I gave it so much power by allowing it to start to define me. I became “a girl with anxiety” instead of someone who was experiencing anxiety. There is such a huge mindset shift in that one word.

When we use mental illness as an excuse, we’re allowing it to have even more control over us than it did before. It changes our idea of who we are fundamentally, and our illness becomes the first thing we think about when we consider our abilities or flaws.

Because here’s the thing: I see so many people using depression, anxiety, or the like as an excuse for why they can’t do something. But they don’t do anything to fix the problem. Mental illness such as depression or anxiety show that there’s something wrong–you’ve gotten into a negative spiral, and you aren’t able to get out on your own (oversimplified, obviously, but the point remains). They point to a problem that lies deeper–a problem that your brain, body, and psyche are all screaming out together for you to fix. But what I see over and over again is that people become comfortable in these places of suffering–and I’ve done it, too! That’s one of the reasons it makes me so frustrated!

I just want to urge people to stop letting what you struggle with define you. It is one thing to opt out of engaging in certain events or to avoid pushing yourself too hard while you’re receiving treatment, or because it’s necessary to bolster mental health. I’m all for that! That’s simply being responsible. But please, stop seeing mental health problems as a valid reason for you to limit yourself. Because maybe you can’t do it now, but that doesn’t mean that it needs to be your future. It doesn’t mean that it needs to be your identity. Your future and your identity are founded in the One who cannot be shaken. And no anxiety, depression, or anything else can hold a candle to His power.

So instead, let’s take time to look for the deeper issues at play to start to actually fix the problem–not just buff over the symptoms. Because you are more than your struggle.

I am not a mental health professional, so I’m just speaking from the heart here. :) If you struggle with mental illness, get treatment from a professional. That’s what I’m saying in this post. 

5 Ways to Make Your Work Environment Stress-Free

Do you find that your office just stresses you out sometimes?

I work from home, so my office is where I spend the majority of my time (when I’m not working from the couch…). And I’ve found that one of the easiest ways to make the work day less stressful is simply to create a more relaxing and calm environment.

Back when I lived with my parents, this was super easy to do. I put curtains all along my one wall, painted the room a beautiful periwinkle colour, and it was exactly how I wanted. In a rental unit, though, it’s another story.

I can’t nail anything up, I can’t paint the walls, I can’t make any permanent changes, or anything that would need to be covered up. Our apartment is adorable and I love it, but it’s painted a weird off-white, a cold off-white, and it just feels really stark.

So I’ve been working the last little bit on making it feel more homey. And I wanted to share my tips with you!  [Read more…]

7 Reasons to resolve to EXERCISE, not LOSE WEIGHT in 2017

The first time I ever thought about losing weight I was 12 years old.

It was in a swimming class, when I realized that I was always paired with the only boy in the class because I was the strongest girl there, not as waif-like as the others. I’ve always been a strong person, and I’ve never been “skinny” like other girls. I was slender, but more athletic when I was 12-14. Then I discovered the internet and the athletic thing wore off, too. ;)

But since then, for years there was something in my New Year’s Resolutions about losing weight. Get more toned. Lose 5 pounds. Stop eating so much chocolate (yeah I never stood a chance on that one). [Read more…]

How to Organize Your Notes To Stay Productive

In college, my life was a hot mess. But I knew how to organize your notes.

Seriously. I couldn’t be trusted to eat real food, so I had to have weeks’ worth of dinner servings in the freezer at any point. My room was always a mess because I lived off campus and I spent almost all my time either in the library or at Connor’s house. At any given moment I had over 100 unanswered emails in my inbox.

But my notes… oh, my notes.

My notes were perfect.

My notes were organized.

Because with everything else, I could fake it ’till I make it. Sure, my room was messy, but I didn’t let it spill into the common areas. And I just spent one day a month making food so I had a solid stock of dinner and lunches frozen for later. And every now and then I would power through that inbox. With my notes, though, there wasn’t really room for a slip-up. If my notes were disorganized or messy, my productivity was shot.

When you keep your notes organized, your time can be put towards studying, not reformatting your notes so they actually make sense.

[Read more…]