“Intention In The Tension” is the mantra and rally cry for all Up & Comers on the journey. It’s a phrase that encapsulates what we face in life — a battle of reconciling tensions that are often irreconcilable. This is what creates the tension we can’t avoid, but that isn’t a bad thing. What it means to live in the midst of that tension is to have intention behind what you do and why you do it. This mantra (and t-shirt) is a visual and verbal way to encapsulate our heart in what we are doing with our show.
Mantra
(A good visual of what this looks like)
WHAT IT MEANS TO US
Adam – Life is full of tensions. The tension between good and evil (for you theologians), between horsepower and fuel efficiency (for you car fanatics), between power and weight (for you body builders), between work and life, sleep and waking, speed and quality. These tensions exist because there are some rules that can’t be broken. No 150 pound olympian can lift as much as a 300 pound olympian. That’s the way that it is. The same inherent limitations exist in almost every facet of life. The answer isn’t to cheat them or hack our way around them; no, the answer is to accept them and live intentionally within them. To live with intention in the tension: there’s no other way. This is the good life.
Thane – Finding Intention in the Tension is a life-long pursuit that never concludes in a full and final arrival. It is the pursuit of marrying two incompatible realities. It is seeing the truth in both sides, but never choosing a permanent residence. It’s not pushing to remove the discomfort of differences, but embracing the differences for what they are and leaning into the space that remains in-between. We believe this is a crucial element of God’s design – telling us to accept two truths that we can’t humanly unite, but still believe. This is the path of faith, wading into the tensions of life and choosing to remain there with purpose.
THE DESIGN PROCESS
Josiah – In creating the artwork representing this new vision for The Up & Comers Show, one of our primary goals was to vividly portray the tension that wages its war against us daily. Being intentional amidst life’s tensions is an everyday battle, stretching and pulling us in all directions. The Up & Comers want to celebrate taking on that tension in life with great intention and passion, and our hope is that the artwork for this new mantra will ever be a visual reminder of what it looks like to take that tension head-on, with unmatched passion and tenacity.
