Episode #20
Episode 20:The Kid Who Got in Trouble for Shining Lights in Church Now Gets Paid to Do It. A conversation with Stephen Proctor
Stephen Proctor is an artist of light. He flies drones over glaciers in New Zealand, projects forests onto the walls of the Washington National Cathedral, and lives in a cabin in the Pacific Northwest woods that he named Rivendell. He got in trouble as a kid for shining a laser pointer in church. He now gets paid to illuminate churches. He'll tell you eight-year-old Stephen is absolutely losing his mind. In this episode, Stephen and I dig into what it looks like to leave a creative mecca before it turns you cynical, why re-enchantment is the most important thing artists can offer a disenchanted world, what it cost him to work behind the scenes with people the world puts on pedestals, and why slowing down is not just an artistic choice but a philosophy of life. Stephen also shares the three questions that changed everything for him. One from a mentor in New Zealand who asked what it would look like to put a single photograph on a screen and just let it breathe for an entire song. One from a friend sitting in a hot tub under the stars in California asking what it would look like to flip the model and create something entirely his own. And one about how you take your coffee that quietly started it all. He closes by reading from his late Uncle Steve's worn paperback copy of The Fellowship of the Ring. And honestly, there was no better way to end it. So here's the question I want to leave you with. You're busy, you're moving, you're consuming, you're producing. But when's the last time you just sat still long enough to let something beautiful actually do something to you? Book: Wild Wonder: What Nature Teaches Us About Slowing Down and Living Well — available on Amazon Company: Illuminate (Stephen's creative company) Instagram: @stephenproctor
