Molehills and Universes is a multi-part multimedia project examining the purposes of pain. I compiled the series into print, e Book, video, and social media formats in hope of helping you through your own challenges.
My primary source material is the opening verse of the Book of Mormon—Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Studying these 68 words has allowed me to peer beyond the boundaries of my own molehills and gain insight into the universe of opportunities beyond.
Series Origin and Backstory
4 Feb 2019, 2:00 AM:
OK; two in the morning. Couldn’t sleep. As I tossed in bed, something that has been niggling at the back of my mind for months finally crystallized. It wouldn’t let me sleep, so I dictated its outline into my cell phone in one long swoop, much like I did my recent talk. The project will be delivered in daily chunks, illustrated with new artwork every day, possibly including bite-sized vlog delivery.
I’ve already finished the first section, including this new sketch. More details later.
Now maybe I can get back to sleep. Gonna be tough staying awake at work today. But I think it’s worth it. 🙂
Follow-up, 4am:
I flipped open the Scriptures an hour later as I was getting ready for the day and was led to a chain of passages beginning with Mosiah 28:11, that dealt with the core of Nephi‘s story: the brass plates. The cross references led me from the middle of the book to nearly its beginning: 1 Nephi 3:5-7. Here, I revisited the introduction of the plates in this story, where Lehi promised that Nephi would be blessed for doing the Lord’s work, and Nephi’s powerful and consistent response that he would do whatever the Lord required. Another God-directed coincidence to reinforce my thoughts of the previous night.
Process
This effort began in a manner remarkably similar to my preparation for a speech I gave in 2019, the transcript and video for which are on my website as “Why We Believe”.
Over the next year of writing, illustrating and publishing this project, I sharpened what I wanted to say, how I would say it, and how others would discover it. I prayed earnestly and often for guidance. My first focus was to create the video scripts, then record them in a temporary studio I set up in my basement. Once all 30 of them were edited, paired with graphics, and published online, I then began designing the books.
To illustrate the ideas I wanted to convey and to add interest, I reviewed paintings I had created over the years and chose those which best summarized each chapter’s ideas. As I did so, I was impressed with the correlation between my intent for each painting and the messages in the book.
To fulfill print constraints, I cropped each illustration to fit my design and converted the result to greyscale. The originals are referenced in each image’s caption. I invite you to view their color version on my website.
Goals
I want you to harvest joy from pain. I hope you will see that your problems are not unique and that you are not alone, and that you will discover helps to get you through whatever you face.
Whether you are a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, some other faith, or have faith in something else, these messages are universal, have universal value and can be universally applied.
I pray for your comfort, peace, strength, endurance, self-acceptance, and love, and for your own ultimate success in whatever good you choose to do.