Communication is art.
Art is communication.
Almost anything can be considered communication.
Almost everything communicates something in some manner.

The question then is how well does it, do we, communicate.
Everything I do and say, and the way I do and say things communicates a lot about who I am and what I believe and think. How well am I communicating who I am? How well do I communicate when I say or claim or think I believe?
My facial expressions, tone of voice, where I am looking when talking, the way I physically write or draw or paint, the way I choose to take a picture or film, it all in some way communicates something about me.

My life, your life, anyone’s life is a vibrant ever changing form of communication and ultimately is probably the most powerful and influential form. As powerful as poetry and music and film and art are and can be in telling a story, communicating a message, there is something about how a person chooses to simply live. By live I mean everything about them. How someone drinks coffee, ties their shoes, treats their co-workers, handles adversity, laughs, their life. Their being. Your existence. My existence.

What makes communication so intriguing to me is its forms. Its art. The ways it can exist. How forms of communication overlap and form even better forms of communication. How methods of communication can be examined. How everyday we are communicated to and communicate with. The forms and methods of communication we choose to use. How our choice in communication helps further reveal the communication of our very life.

Art I believe, in and of itself, has the sole purpose of communication in every way. No matter the kind or style of painting, drawing, or sculpting, the art is communicative of numerous things. There is often explicit communication, where an idea or purpose is clear and intended. But there are always less implied communication as well. The type of medium speaks of the artist mindset and comfort level with that medium. Sometimes the only communication is beauty, like a photograph or time lapse of nature. Sometimes it is more abstract and is communicating the desire to ask questions, to seek truth, to wonder.
The subject matter, the medium, do not always have to be of just one kind though. I for one love the mixing of art forms, the mixing of communication methods. I absolutely love hand drawn or digitally designed words and phrases that communicate the written words in a more powerful display and setting than perhaps just plain text as this could. I absolutely love communicating with film. Mixing the visual cues and communicative forms with spoken word, with music. Everything comes together in one piece. A piece that is dynamic. A piece that can communicate through silence or at times more effectively with sound and noise and voice. Emotion can be communicated through facial expressions, through color, through camera techniques, through musical notes, the possibilities seem endless.

I find myself thinking about communication more and more everyday. I have always been a proponent of communicating well and competently. It is difficult to survive and get along without solid communication skills. And not necessarily through just one manner such as public speaking, one can speak publicly, comfortably, and audibly and still fail to communicate effectively. But figuring out how to communicate so those around you understand is so important. And it becomes even more important when you have something worth communicating. When you have an amazing purpose behind your communication. When you can communicate more than just who you are. When you can communicate bigger than yourself. So today I ask myself if I am communicating well. Today I ask what is my life communicating? What is my art saying about me? What does the way I approach art and photography and film and design and relationships communicate about me?

Ideally everything I do and say. My life. My existence. Communicates that I am small. That I am just a fallen being. That I have been rescued from myself and my very nature. That by grace alone I experience a relationship with my Creator and Savior. That I am better than no one. That I judge no one. That I seek absolute truth. That I desire others to find absolute truth with me. That I seek to treat every as imago dei and offer the same grace and redemption I have accepted. I have previously considered myself a good communicator. I considered myself a decent writer, a decent public speaker, and able to carry a conversation if need be. But to make those my standards of communication is to oversimplify things. Those things are merely aspects of communication. Methods. But only a part of real communication. Real communication is bigger than any one method. My life is communication. Every aspect of it. My art, my eating habits, the list goes on. Everything communicates something. Everything communicates a part of the bigger communication that is our life. My life is a canvas. The kind of canvas I am communicates to everyone around me who my artist is. I hope that my life canvas is not distorting my Artist. I hope that the canvas I am is communicating the art of the Creator. The communication of the Savior.

I pray the mediums of film, photography, design, are all an aspect of my medium of living that accurately communicates grace, redemption, and true unconditional agape love.

Art is communication.
Communication is an art.