Category Archives: Creativity/Spirituality

Musings/thoughts/questions about creativity and spirituality

December 2009 Soul and Solace

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The Gift of Experience

“More Bang for your Buck!”

“Times are Tough.”

“These days, it’s more important than ever to . . .”

A season associated with extravagant spending collides with circumstances that challenge consumer values. How might we creatively respond—can we find ways to both give and live? This month we can explore gifting others with memorable experiences. Some possibilities include:

  • Strolling through or driving by holiday light displays
  • Belting out holiday songs (off key, if we like!) while driving or walking
  • Creating “gift cards” that begin with the words “I hope you for . . .” followed by a personal greeting or that begin with the words “I value in you . . .” followed by words of regard
  • Together attending a free holiday concert, event, or worship service, or treating someone to a film, to a dance or theater production or to something else that nourishes and delights.

Do you have other ideas for sharing the gift of experience? We’d love to read them!

November 2009 Soul and Solace

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Surprised by Thanks

“Give thanks.” The words meet us everywhere during this season: hanging from banners, printed into worship bulletins, drifting through radio speakers. And if, as is the case for many just now, you’re going through a rough patch, the exhortation can feel like another impossible expectation life has imposed on you. This season, perhaps we can relax into thanks, remaining open and letting it find us. For instance, while walking Town Lake one morning, a beautiful scent reached me: roses, apparently unaware that it was mid-November, bloomed in a riot of color, their fragrance more real and strong than any rose I’d experienced for some time. Dew sat up proudly in the ridges of the roses’ leaves, pure and powerful in the morning air. And thanks found me.

This holiday we can give ourselves the gift of permission: permission not to work ourselves up to a feeling of thanks, but, rather, letting go and allowing thanks to find us.

October 2009 Soul and Solace

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Face to the Wind

I’ve been noticing dogs in vehicles a lot lately: little ones perched on driver’s laps, hunky ones taking soldier stances in the backs of pickups, mid-sized one poking noses out of backseat windows. Tails wagging, ears up, noses sniffing, faces to the wind, these dogs don’t want to miss a thing. I wonder what it would look like to live with our faces to the wind. I listed a few ideas below. We’d love to hear yours!

  • Roll down the windows when driving or riding to feel and hear the music of the earth.
  • Take sensory walks: once to listen, another time to smell, one time to look, another time to feel, maybe even a time to taste—within reason, of course!
  • When riding in a closed vehicle, view the world through every available window. How does altered perspective “reframe” the view?

Share your thoughts on October’s Soul & Solace

Sept. 2009 Soul and Solace

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Milestone Moments

Whistles, cheers, and a low, rumbling chant: “one oh, one oh”—we heard it half a mile away. A moment later we saw flags waving and teens crowding toward the school’s doors. I noticed a number of new shoes and backpacks still bearing store-fresh creases. My daughter was somewhere in that crowd, sporting a sea-foam green t-shirt bearing the hot-pink logo “10.” Dots of sea-foam green adorned the crowd: Senior girls dressed to celebrate their first day of class as top of the heap. Waves of enthusiastic energy burst across the campus and into the street; they caught me up and took me back to such a day in my life. And in a season of life that at best could be described as perplexing and at worst as demoralizing, that enthusiastic, anticipatory energy gave me hope.

Such formative moments are like milestones on our life’s journey. As we first pass them, the milestones form tangible evidence that we have, indeed, come this far. Looking back on them in tough times, they become tangible reminders that things have not always been so and, indeed, may not always be.

What milestones form your life’s journey? What did they mean to you as you passed them? What meaning do they hold for you now? Consider graphing your milestone journey; you might write it, draw it, sculpt it, sew it, or . . . Then, if you like, share your experience of the practice with us.

August 2009 Soul and Solace

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Like Blanche DuBois, I recently had occasion to rely on the kindness of strangers. During a weekend outing to Fredricksburg, TX, I caught my foot on a curb and smashed my face full-force against the pavement. I could tell, from the blood on my hands, the state of my glasses, and from the expressions on my family’s faces, that something was amiss. Then strangers appeared: a child bearing a worried expression, a woman thrusting a pack of tissues into my daughter’s hands, people offering bottles of water, a man who ran into a restaurant and returned with a bag of ice and a handful of napkins. Bicycle police insisted I let EMS check me out; EMS directed me to a nearby Wal-Mart, where I could purchase first-aid supplies. While my daughters tended my wounds in the Wal-Mart bathroom, woman after woman appeared, looked at me, registered shock, and asked the question of compassion: “What happened to you?” Then they shared their stories of frightening falls and of recoveries. Each story was different, but I noticed a running theme: connection. The actions of, the stories of these strangers recognized that we are connected by our humanness, by our vulnerability, by our need for community, and by our need for hope.

After that weekend, I recommitted myself to being a stranger on whose kindness others can rely. What does “stranger kindness” look like to you?

July 2009 Soul and Solace

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Summertime: children are seen everywhere. Or are they? Society tends toward two extremes in its treatment of young people. One extreme views children as big-eyed cartoon characters who say precious and endearing things. (Many children’s faith education publications sport just such illustrations.) The other extreme views children as “not quite” people. (For instance, the term “minor” indicates someone who is “less than.”)

The first view relates to children more as pets than as people, viewing them simply as “cute,” while denying them the respect afforded to equals. The second view renders children invisible: because they are small of stature, or because they cannot vote or earn a wage, society simply does not see them.

This summer, we can make a spiritual practice of valuing children as persons. Below are some ideas; you may have others. We’d love to hear them!

  • Get on a child’s eye level when interacting with him/her;
  • Ask questions in a child’s language: gauge word choice and sentence structure to the child’s needs;
  • Help other adults “see” children (For instance, children awaiting service in retail establishments often get overlooked. We can point out their presence to the wait staff.);
  • Say “excuse me” to a child every time you would do the same for an adult;
  • In teaching situations, replace “cute” with “quality”;
  • Learn a child’s name; and
  • Ask a child to teach you how to do something at which she/he is accomplished.

Do you have other suggestions?

June 2009 Soul and Solace

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Swimming pools, water slides, river rafting—summer & water, what a delightful duo! Scientists wonder if coming generations will have the resources to enjoy such treats. They predict that we face a critical shortage of water—readers of Frank Herbert’s Dune series can imagine the ramifications.

How, then, can we honor water—enjoying its gifts and conserving it as a precious resource for future generations? Below are a few suggestions. Do you have others?

  • Experience a glass of water with your senses: feel the water’s coolness on your hand as it flows from the tap, listen as it hits the bottom of the container, hold the glass up to a light and study the colors within the water, taste the water—what memory does your taste evoke?
  • Indulge in a long bath instead of a long shower; every once in awhile, light candles, play quiet music, and settle in for a soak.
  • Wait to wash. Wait until you have a full load in the dishwasher or the clothes washer before running them.
  • Xeriscape. Reduce the need to water the lawn by replacing “water-needy” plants with more drought-resistant ones.
  • Watch a rainstorm. Turn out the lights, snuggle up with someone you love, and just be.
  • Read A Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt. A delicious read!
  • Make a splash! Whether it’s a pool party, a water balloon fight, or just rolling up your pants legs for a wade, let water work its magic on you. After all, what better way to honor water than with laughter?

Do you have other suggestions?

May 2009 Soul and Solace

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What Works?

I recently completed a job for which I was wholly unsuited—­we’re talking round peg stuffed into a square hole! Many people these days are doing the same thing—“you gotta do what you gotta do!” So what solace can we offer our souls while making our way through a tough work situation? I found the practices below helpful and would love to hear others you might offer.

  • Laugh: Finding a way to look at my workspace with a twinkle in my eye provided balance;
  • Visualize: I imagined what good my work would do, both for the world (I was providing a needed service) and for those closest to me (I imagined my daughter wearing the Senior Ring my salary would provide);
  • Survival Treats: Planning simple treats to delight my soul helped. Possibilities? Check out a film from the library, walk somewhere beautiful, visit a gallery or museum, phone a friend, create something, enjoy comfort food.

Do you have other suggestions?

April 2009 Soul and Solace

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God Sightings

What does God look like, after all? Many world spiritualities reply, “Just look around.” This month consider a practice of “God Sighting.” Choose five persons with whom you share at least part of your vulnerable soul. What about them allows you that level of trust? Begin noticing those characteristics in others around you—maybe in a person; maybe in an animal; maybe in a rock, or a lake, or a sandwich—maybe in yourself.

What do you see? We’d like to know!

March 2009 Soul and Solace

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A school principal told this story at a teacher’s conference. A student was brought, again, to her office. He’d a long history of acting out. Inspiration came as she gazed at the youth. Pulling a standing mirror from her closet, she instructed, “Stand before this mirror until you see someone you like.” Then she left the office. Once, she peeked to see the youth’s puzzled frown as he studied his reflection. When she came back later, he had gone­after that his behavior grew more thoughtful and loving and she did not see him again in her office.

It is easy, isn’t it, to describe how unacceptable, unworthy, or “less than” we are? What if, instead, just for the month of March, we let it be enough to be who we are where we are? What if we gazed in the mirror until we liked what we saw and then pulled out a mirror and invited others to do the same?