This week, I’ve found myself buried under academic responsibilities, preparing for the spring semester. It is the eternal struggle of every creator—to be torn from dreams and visions and drawn into the mundane necessities of the world. When I was younger, I resented such stolen time, yearning for a life spent wholly in creation. But I’ve since learned that this tension is the nature of life itself: the struggle to reach toward light and beauty while trudging through the weight of the everyday.

An...