Nicole Ricketts

The artist

The artist is the creator of beautiful things.
To reveal art and conceal the artist is art’s aim.
The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.
The highest, as the lowest, form of criticism is a mode of autobiography.
Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault.
Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope.
They are the elect to whom beautiful things
mean only Beauty.
There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or
badly written. That is all.
The nineteenth century dislike of Realism is the rage of Caliban seeing his own face in a glass.
The nineteenth century dislike of Romanticism is the rage of Caliban not seeing his own face in a glass.
The moral life of man forms part of the subject-matter
of the artist, but the morality of art consists
in the perfect use of an imperfect medium.
No artist desires to prove anything. Even things that are true can be proved.
No artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style.
No artist is ever morbid. The artist
can express everything.
Thought and language are to the artist instruments of an art.
Vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art.
From the point of view of form, the type of all the arts is the art of the musician. From the point of view of feeling, the actor’s craft is the type.
All art is at once surface and symbol.
Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.
Those who read the symbol do so at their peril.
It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors.
Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
When critics disagree the artist is in accord with himself.
We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.
All art is quite useless.

- Oscar Wilde

#Jesusisallineed

andieg:

He’s been calling my name all day, waiting for me to want to spend time with him while I’ve been focused on calling on the name of others. Tonight I am thankful that all it takes is for me let him in because he is all I need. I can rest tonight. 

10 days

What can I do with 10 days?

Andie is my most favorite person on the planet.

Here we come.

As most of you probably know, in a month, I am going to be leaving my town for a little while. Now this trip is very different than any others that I have taken. I have lived in the same house all of my life, and on any trip that I have been gone from home, it has lasted no longer than about 2 weeks, if that. On this new excursion, I will be gone for about two and a half months, almost my entire summer. So, it’s kind of a big deal for me, although I’d rather not admit that. It is also my first “official job” which means that has nothing to do with my own business, and I get paid on a semi-consistent, hourly basis.

Now somehow, some way, and for some reason, God chose to have me to go and to do this. I cannot even begin to express how thankful I am for how much He has blessed me with this opportunity. To go on a journey, to do the thing I am most passionate about every day, along with getting to minister to students, living in such a beautiful place up in the mountains, getting to meet, enjoy, and make new friends, and get to be God’s hands and feet in a very tangible and exciting way. I heard from a friend that working at Hume is not about the money. I have fully embraced and learned to appreciate this truth in my preparations, because it is about the mission and it is where my heart and soul will be pouring into. And how could you do that when you are receiving more than you are giving?

Then, there are days when reality steps in and I wake up a bit. This can be a good thing or a not so good thing. I realize it is so close and all the fun little logistics of packing, praying for the staff, finding out details I didn’t know before come to a new meaning. But then, there are also those days, like yesterday, when I acquire 8 bug bites, which leads me to begin to think about how many more I will probably receive this summer. I start to remember all the little things I am temporarily parting from. I realize how much I will miss home. By home, I could mean my clean, manicured surroundings, having my own room, my own space, a whole closet full of clothes, having alone time for hours each afternoon, or being so close to everything, specifically Starbucks, which is a minute away from my house. Don’t get me wrong, I will miss those things a lot, but what I am really talking about is my incredible, precious family and my brilliant, lovely friends. I could go on and on about them. Both give me so much joy and they serve as constant reminders of how much God cares and loves me. My family’s quirks, how much they care and how they are always there for me. My friends, the ones that have been by my side through the roller coaster of my life, they have put up with me for years, making me treasure them all the more. Then, those friends whom I have just recently had the wonderful chance to get to know, sharing the best of times and going on new little adventures that bring so much joy to my life when it seems so complicated. I will be so far away from the most important people in my life, and this will be the hardest thing for me.

Regardless of all the things I will miss, I am beyond stoked about what is to come and what God has ahead of me. I feel like Repunzel from Tangled, but not as dramatic- at least not yet. I don’t do this often, first of all, writing on Tumblr, but more importantly, I am asking for your prayers. Prayers that I can be challenged and stretched as much as God sees fit and also to give me strength and endurance when things get hard. That he would use me in ways I cannot imagine and that I would come back a changed person and all the more in love with Him. I have much to learn and grow in this next season in my life and I know I need Him to move in me, or else I won’t.

Please, please, please let me know if there is anything I can be praying for for any of you guys. I would be honored to exchange the favor!

I hope you all have a wonderful evening. God bless!

Beauty from Within

In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent lives.
Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They trusted God and accepted the authority of their husbands. For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband, Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do.
In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.
Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it. For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.”

1 Peter