Many years ago, I took a course on using the creative arts in soul care ministry.  It was called, “Awakening the Creative Spirit” and was taught by the amazing Christine Painter and Betsey Beckman. I learned so much from this course and my inner life has been greatly blessed and enriched by its teachings.   

 When I decided to start blogging,  one of the first things I knew was that I would like to incorporate my art meditations into the process. 

In fact, much of my life includes some form of creating. 

 It helps me process the things that tend to hide deep inside, and it gives me the tools to tap into the holy which often communicates in curious ways.  The images, colors, and motions quiet my mind, help me to slow down and enable me to listen.  I stop grasping for answers and am able to let my body flow into meditation time. 

 It would probably come as no surprise that I am a person of words.  I love to talk and listen to other people talk.  I love to write words on the page and read the words that other people have written.  Music fills me up, not because of the melodies, but because of the amazing lyrics that are bouncing along to the tune.  If there is one thing that I need more of, it is an invitation to stop creating words, to stop listening for words or speaking and reading words - I’ve got that covered. Instead, I need to be invited into the silence and art helps me to do that. 

 I have always loved the creative arts but could not be said to have much natural “talent” in these areas but I was not destined to be the next Leonardo Da Vinci or Martha Graham. Despite this, I have learned over time, that just because I am not as talented as Rembrandt, I am still an artist. I still have the desire to paint, to sculpt and to create dance steps.  It is just that instead of creating art for galleries and collections I have learned to funnel my artistic endeavors into other avenues including my spiritual life.

Anyone who has ever attended a retreat I have led, or participated in one of my workshops or classes, knows that I usually bring some sort of the expressive arts into the curriculum  Even people who don’t consider themselves artsy seem to be able to dive down deep once they pick up the glue stick or the pencil.  Especially when they realize that it is not about the finished product but instead about the process that happens during the creation.  That is where the good stuff happens - the magic so to speak. 

As we create and then spend time reflecting on our creation, we begin to see patterns, thoughts, and wisdom that we didn’t see at first. 

New insights arise, and the quiet time helps us to de-stress and listen for invitation.  It is often surprising what can come out of this experience which is what I love about getting out the paint and glue sticks.

In contrast to this, last June I attended a week-long art workshop on printmaking, a medium I had wanted to learn about for a long time.  It ended up being an intense course packed full of information and attended primarily by very skilled artists. Needless to say, I was completely out of my element. 

At the end of the week, we were invited to post our creations around the room and the instructor and our fellow classmates would view each body of work and allow the artist time to talk about their creations. 

 In my innocence, I laid out my prints and waited for my chance to share.  When the sharing started, I quickly saw that it was going to be solely about the learning outcomes; how well we did our compositions, how our colors worked together, how well we had mastered the learned techniques.  Foolishly I had prepared to talk about the process and what I had learne,d while creating; what had risen up for me, and what insights I had experienced through the work.  Needless to say, it was a very stressful experience when my turn came to be reviewed by the class. 

I “failed” in just about every category. 

 But, as I drove home later that afternoon, I realized that I had not failed.  I had created from my heart.  I had learned something new and had allowed the medium to spend time with me.

It wasn’t that I had failed, it was that I had a different goal. 

 My art was not meant to be critiqued.  It was meant to draw me closer to the still small voice inside and help me listen to the inner workings of my soul.  In that sense, it had done just what it was supposed to do. And I had managed to come away with some new skills to try in my own studio at home so win/win.

 When I talk about using the arts for our meditation time and for listening, I am not talking about this type of serious art experience.  I am talking about allowing your inner guide (or whatever you want to call it), to lead you into the quiet.  It is about being embodied in our own skin and allowing images and colors to rise up and give you wisdom or something to ponder about where you are in your life and what you might be invited to enter into at this time.  It is an invitation to tap into the still small voice that often speaks in anything but words.  It is meant to be safe - no critiquing allowed. 

Often, when I sit down to write I might begin with an art meditation. Or after a period of writing, I might choose to end with an art meditation. I usually do not have a plan for where my art meditation will take me, just a topic that I am writing about at the time. I take that idea with me to the project.  I may sense a desire to work with paper and glue or maybe just paint and water.  One time I just felt a deep draw to the color gold and so I went with the idea of using imitation gold leaf to see what came up.  Another time I just wanted to play with natural elements and laying them out in a creative way. More often it is just a pen and paper, doodles at the end of my journal page.

The meditations I create are not meant to be masterpieces.  They are simply meant to be a way in, to help me follow the twisty path that I sometimes refer to as God, or the Holy, or the Divine.  When I finish the art piece I usually find that I have gained some insights or a new perspective.

Always I come away feeling like I have spent some time in meditation, and quiet, which is gift enough in this busy and loud world. 

 I do have to admit that the first time I took a picture of one of my art meditations (which had seemed so beautiful to me in the process) I felt a reluctance to include it in the blog post.  It worried that it looked shabby and not expertly created. 

In my worrying about what the finished product looked like, I realized that I had fallen into the trap of outcome instead of process.  I had allowed myself to be trapped by the idea that something must be masterfully done to be of worth.

It was like I was back in that class only interested in the artistic elements and how well they worked together. Fortunately, I came to realize that the point in sharing is simply to show one of the ways in which I make my way to the holy and to invite others to do the same in their own unique and clunky way.  To allow others to see my vulnerability, and even my lack of mastery and skill, so they would know it was okay to bring their vulnerability to the act of creating as well.  Remember no judging here, no critiquing.

This is one part of my inner life that I choose to share because my art meditations are part of my story.  They are as much a part of me as the words I write on the page or the conversations I have with those I love.  

In the end, I guess my hope is that in my sharing you might be inclined to pick up some glue and paper, to pull out the kid’s old watercolor set and see what color speaks to you that day. 

To perhaps grab a chunk of clay and see what shape it forms in your hands and then offer that up in gratitude for the day.  Maybe tear some pictures out of a magazine that speaks to you each day and spend some time praying with those images.  Or maybe just put a crayon in your pocket as you head out the door and see what comes up in the day from that little colorful gift. 

You may be surprised what chooses to speak to you through such tools.  What invitations might be waiting for you amidst the crayons and pencils.

 And then, if you are feeling brave, I invite you to share your meditation with others, or even in the comments section of this page.  I know that I would love to see the creation of your hands and hear what wisdom has come into your life through the creative arts.  We are, after all, co-creators with the one Great Creator of it all.  So, let’s be bold and do some art, shall we?