Several months ago I shared something that I learned from an online course by Christine Valters Paintner. A number of you responded then with your versions of an "Elevenie" poem. Thank you! This time I want to pass along something from Paintner's book, The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom. Paintner refers to the process of writing or any kind of creative expression as “a container for your internal awareness.”
Maybe your container for awareness is a journal, or letters you write to a friend, or simply a catalog of thoughts you process as you go about your daily activities. I think that anything that furthers the process of writing, nearly by definition, furthers the ability to be an aware person, and visa versa.
“Thou takest the pen – and the lines dance. Thou takest the flute – and the notes shimmer.
Thou takest the brush – and the colors sing. So all things have meaning and beauty in that space beyond where Thou art.
How, then, can I hold anything back from Thee.”
— Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings
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