I wrote the following after listening to an interview with the late, great Irish mystic John O’Donohue on the On Being podcast (which I highly recommend—both that particular interview and On Being in general!).May you enter the doorway of possibility with a soft heart. May you dance on the threshold of the numinous, and may that threshold be kind. May you be gentle to yourself and to your work, treating it as a beloved friend or as a child who needs your help growing into itself. May you learn to balance lightly the ridiculous and the sublime (because all creativity teeters between such seeming opposites). May you bring generosity to your friends’ creative spirits, and may you be blessed with friends who offer their generosity to yours. May you delight in what you make, and may you tenderly release it into the world when it is time. May you never grow a thick skin. May you always know the value of what you have made without clinging too tightly to the opinions of others. May you become companions with the steady luminous silence within yourself. May you never close off the sacred waters of your inspiration. May you learn to bend with the season of your work, And may you listen closely until you hear your own unique rhythm. May you have the wisdom to act upon your ideas, the courage to breathe them into being, the wherewithal to nurture and protect them to completion. May you have the fearlessness to bring to life something that until this moment did not exist in the physical world. May your inner awareness be tilted toward the invisible that surrounds us. May you take yourself lightly, and guard your work fiercely. May you take your work lightly, and guard yourself fiercely. May you know that everything you create is worthy of your attention. May you understand that there is someone out there who will love the thing you have made. May you bask in solitude, yet never be without companions in your journey. May the creative life be good to you.
A prayer for your creative soul
I wrote the following after listening to an interview with the late, great Irish mystic John O’Donohue on the On Being podcast (which I highly recommend—both that particular interview and On Being in general!).May you enter the doorway of possibility with a soft heart. May you dance on the threshold of the numinous, and may that threshold be kind. May you be gentle to yourself and to your work, treating it as a beloved friend or as a child who needs your help growing into itself. May you learn to balance lightly the ridiculous and the sublime (because all creativity teeters between such seeming opposites). May you bring generosity to your friends’ creative spirits, and may you be blessed with friends who offer their generosity to yours. May you delight in what you make, and may you tenderly release it into the world when it is time. May you never grow a thick skin. May you always know the value of what you have made without clinging too tightly to the opinions of others. May you become companions with the steady luminous silence within yourself. May you never close off the sacred waters of your inspiration. May you learn to bend with the season of your work, And may you listen closely until you hear your own unique rhythm. May you have the wisdom to act upon your ideas, the courage to breathe them into being, the wherewithal to nurture and protect them to completion. May you have the fearlessness to bring to life something that until this moment did not exist in the physical world. May your inner awareness be tilted toward the invisible that surrounds us. May you take yourself lightly, and guard your work fiercely. May you take your work lightly, and guard yourself fiercely. May you know that everything you create is worthy of your attention. May you understand that there is someone out there who will love the thing you have made. May you bask in solitude, yet never be without companions in your journey. May the creative life be good to you.