December Threads:: Create
Monthly prayer practice to say yes to wonder again
Way back when in October, I thought I’d offer something every day through Advent to inspire creativity. It sounded like a great idea until I remembered the complicated relationship that people have with both email and the idea of making. We tend to think that you need to be good at art. You need to have talent to create.
I was an art major in college and I rarely make art now unless it is something with craft glue with my kids. Courtney Martin wrote this beautiful essay on making art inspired by an exhibit she saw at the Whitney and it made me want to run out to the store and actually buy a sketch book to allow myself to draw. I haven’t allowed myself to create in this way what feels like a zillion years. There are reasons, maybe. I have told myself that there is not enough time or I don’t know what to make. Or if I did choose to make something like the watercolors I used to spend hours creating, what would I do with it? It has felt like a waste of paper.
For Elizabeth Gilbert, in her book Big Magic, it is a question of courage. She writes, “Creativity is sacred, and it is not sacred. What we make matters enormously, and it doesn’t matter at all. We toil alone, and we are accompanied by spirits. We are terrified, and we are brave. Art is a crushing chore and a wonderful privilege. Only when we are at our most playful can divinity finally get serious with us. Make space for all these paradoxes to be equally true inside your soul, and I promise—you can make anything. So please calm down now and get back to work, okay? The treasures that are hidden inside you are hoping you will say yes.”
Say yes like Mary does to the Angel Gabriel. Dare to imagine something that you didn't believe was possible. That’s the invitation I offer you this month. Dare to create something because the world is broken and torn apart and God needs our yes. When we can’t re-make the world, we can still create beauty. We can make space for wonder and not the worry about it it’s good enough. Our yes is always a treasure. Let this not be about talent at all but a way to find God coming into the world again to make all things new.
This month, you might say yes to any one of these creative expressions.
Savor the wonder of the light coming into the world with these shadow drawings.
Turn up the radio and dance.
Swing by the thrift store to pick up some coffee mugs and use some nail polish to make marbled mugs.
Print an excerpt of scripture from the weekly readings this Advent on a clean white piece of paper and use a thick black marker to create blackout poetry. Or pick up an old Bible from the thrift store while picking up coffee mugs and mark up the pages.
Flip through a cookbook and choose a new recipe to try.
Listen to poetry every single day.
Venture out to listen to live music.
Care for the tender birds and transform a milk carton into an avian respite.
Rearrange the furniture in a room in your home or office.
Admire the creativity of others at a local museum.
Spend an afternoon upcycling some aluminum cans into beaded jewelry.
Start a journal and allow yourself to be inspired by one of these prompts when you have no idea what to write.
Pick up a sketch book and draw anything and everything you see that reminds you about love and wonder.
Sing in endless song.
Sit in a dark room and allow yourself to listen to an entire symphony.
Walk in nature at dusk and collect objects to create this mobile for any climate.
Grab some watercolors and tape and make this beautiful collage.
I hope and pray you find creativity tangled in all of the wonders of your life this month. As you are inspired to do so, please share in the comments below your experience of singing.
As you enter into this December practice, here are some questions for reflection and prayer.
What are the barriers for you into creativity?
What is God creating for you?
How do you witness to God’s love in moments of creativity?
What do you most need to make in this season of longing and expectation?
Imagining this prayer practice this month gave me the chance to listen to this old OnBeing episode featuring Elizabeth Gilbert. It’s one of my favorites and I recommend it especially if you’re struggling with your creativity.
You might find additional inspiration from this essay by Carol Howard. It’s another oldie but goodie.
We need new words to understand the hope and joy of this season and I’m so grateful to the poet and liturgist Maren Tirabassi for offering these fresh words to O Come, O Come Emmanuel. It just doesn’t feel right to sing those old lyrics with all that is going on in the world. I also love these words to light the Advent candles from the SALT Project.
If you are interested in spiritual direction and are interested in a first conversation with me, please reach out or go ahead and book an appointment here. I am currently welcoming new directees and would be delighted to explore the holy threads of this life with you.
This is full of such goodness! Thank you! I like to read Big Magic every few years and I may bust it out for the new year.
Thanks for these invitations toward creativity this Advent. I loved Big Magic - it was a powerful acknowledgement that everyone (read: even me!) is creative in some form or fashion!