I am fully aware that this was serendipity now…this was the first glimpse at my life’s calling…The Artist as a Spiritual Explorer… we can fly…we can soar… –Rebecca E. Parsons
How have I been led to this place…SOAR – The Artist as a Spiritual Explorer Virtual Retreat…I have been on a journey for several years, with no idea of exactly where I was heading. When I began all I knew was, once I was called to go, I had no choice but to move out in the direction I was led.
The Readers Digest version of how my life’s journey has led me to today: I have been creative all of my life. As a dancer, writer, journalist, and visual artist I have explored many pathways. I danced until I broke my neck at age 23. Having to find another outlet for my creativity, I began to paint and design. This led to a long career in graphic design. In the mid-80s, I rediscovered my love for painting and began a long lucrative career in decorative arts as a muralist. Graphic design led me to become a magazine editor for the 12 years and to freelance gigs with some of the world’s largest corporations (i.e. Kimberly-Clark, Prudential, IBM, GTE, BellSouth, Scientific Atlanta, Ernst & Young) and the US Olympic Committee. Murals and faux finishing led me into teaching, speaking engagements and writing as a regular columnist for several magazines. Another spinal injury and subsequent surgeries brought me off of the ladder forever and into my own artwork.
Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road. -Dag Hammerskjold
But there is another side of me that requires nurturing as much as my creative side – my spiritual side. I was always a Sunday church-goer and volunteer. After the death of my mother in 2000, I began a journey into deeper prayer, consciously setting aside time each morning and evening for prayer. That led me to praying the hours as monks and nuns do. What I discovered was the more you pray, the more you want to pray. And you begin a journey into a relationship so vast and fulfilling that you desire to have that always present in your life.
This led me to seek a Spiritual Director in 2002. Before you think this is all too woo woo. Spiritual direction is a contemplative coaching process of accompanying another on their spiritual journey. Spiritual direction explores a deeper relationship with the spiritual aspect of being human. Simply put, spiritual direction is helping people tell their sacred stories everyday.
I sought spiritual direction because I was torn…I believed that in order to follow my spiritual self, I would need to abandon my creative self. With my director’s help, I have been able to come to the understanding that my art does not conflict with my spiritual life, it enhances and enriches it. In 2005, I entered a 4-year formation program to become a Spiritual Director. That changed my life in ways I never dreamed and delivered me to this, my life’s calling.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. -Jeremiah 29:11
My heart has been called to move my art explorations out into the world. I even bought Art as Prayer.com in 2007. Last week, during a contemplative/meditative session seeking Divine guidance, I was given the outline of my future…my ministry…my calling…
The Artist as a Spiritual Explorer…
I have great clarity about all my past pathways, the fulfilling journeys as well as the missteps. Each has had a special lesson that has prepared me for this new path. The years of struggle with my art and my life, the years of writing and teaching, the education process of becoming a Spiritual Director…all have led to this new doorway…the threshold of the rest of my life. It was opened to me and I have walked through it…filled with anticipation and excitement….
I consider myself a contemplative artist. My work is a combination of meditation and exploration…I cannot deny that part of myself that is so deeply rooted in faith and belief or the part of me that brings forth my visual voice from the work of my hands. I sometimes long for the peace of mind of the Buddhist monks, who have reached the place where nothing of this world can affect them…negatively or positively. They exist on a level where they are one with the Divine…I have glimpses of this place, but am still striving for it.
My journey since 2008 has been a test, for life usually gives the test first before it the reveals the answers. 2010 was a year of deep lessons for me…profound loss, reflection, renewal, creativity, upheaval, unease…all brought with them major growth. I find growing edges of myself everyday and I am learning to embrace the me that I am today…at this moment. Those times that I was able to live in the present brought the biggest rewards…peace of mind and heart…and creativity beyond my wildest dreams. I am living proof that God had bigger plans for your life, than you could ever imagine yourself…
Some life lessons come like a wave and knock you off balance and off your feet. Yet others arrive like tiny ripples, barely noticable at first. Still others are but a whisper of the wind that hints of things to come. However life lessons arrive, you must be still and be aware of their power…for you are being called forth into your best self.
When I am fully in this thing I call intuitivity (the confluence of intuition and creativity) I am most alive and in complete sync with that part of me that always has the answers and always knows where I should go…I want to spend an abundance of my time there from this point forward…and I invite you to accompany me…
My life will be about helping others become artist/explorers
I am led to discover how to let my divine intuition create without editing…to let go of preconceived notions…to play…to find my unique, individual visual voice…and to begin to use it powerfully…. and I will teach you how to do the same. I am so excited about the future…
I started a new blog called…The Artist as a Spiritual Explorer...here…it will be the place where I can teach and reach others on the same path…an atelier of sorts…a place of intuitivity….
The rest of my time will be devoted to growing Cre8tive Compass Magazine, the radio shows: Artistically Speaking Talk Show and FAMM Live, and the newest venture Live Interactive Television. 2011 promises to be an exciting time for me. I will tell you more about this in the next few days.
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