rediscovering my core identity

by Michael Novelli   |  January 12 2009    10:52 AM

This Henri Nouwen quote, from his book The Only Necessary Thing, was published in my churches' bulletin this week and used in the sermon:

"Prayer is listening to that voice – the One who calls you the Beloved. It is to constantly go back to the truth of who we are and claim it for ourselves. I am not what I do. I'm not what people say about me. I'm not what I have... My life is rooted in my spiritual identity. Whatever we do, we have to go back regularly to that place of core identity."

This is a huge encouragement and challenge to me during a time of "wilderness" in my own life. I often struggle with my identity being wrapped up in what I do, and this is a particularly difficult time for me with this as I am struggling to find work. I am comforted in the fact that I have been created uniquely with great love, and formed to reflect the very image of God. In prayer I can rediscover the core of my true identity and let go of all of the fear and insecurity I battle with each day.

Happy New Year!  Stunning Pixilation Video

by Michael Novelli   |  January 02 2009    08:06 PM

I just spotted this video on the DRAWN blog. At first glance it's mesmerizing and has great music... but this is so much more impressive when you realize how it was created.

They used a process called pixilation, “a stop motion technique where live actors are used as a frame-by-frame subject in an animated film, by repeatedly posing while one or more frame is taken and changing pose slightly before the next frame or frames."

The original link (HERE) has a making-of video in French with Dutch subtitles that is worth watching. This stunning video took...

• 4 weeks of prep


• 4 days of shooting


• 20 “animators”


• 288,000 tea lights!

Rather than linking a low-res Youtube version, I found a larger quicktime link below.

Happy New Year!



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