Drawing is seeing. Seeing is understanding. Understanding is the beginning of wisdom.

This is why I draw.

When I hear or read words I immediately see pictures and am compelled to draw them in a way that makes sense to my thinking. This helps me both to remember what I heard, and to process the concepts into something that is cohesive and compelling for me.

I’ve been following Tripp Fuller’s Homebrewed Christianity podcast since it started in 2008. When I heard that Tripp was going to do an online course with Diana Butler-Bass called “Jesus De/Constructed” during Lent 2022 I was compelled to take it. Whenever I take a course I open up the Procreate App on my iPad, get out my Apple Pencil and take visual notes that include cartoons, colors, and lots of mind-mapping. I posted my notes on the Facebook group for the class and people responded positively. I continued to take notes on all the class sessions and on the books that Diana and Tripp wrote.

Here’s an example…

These colorful notes caught the attention of the Cobb Institute and led to an invitation to discuss why I take visual notes and how creativity works together with scholarship and spirituality.

If you are intrigued by the idea of the fusion of horizons, you might find this little animation I did several years ago interesting.