Inhaling Spirit, Exhaling Art
Are you any good at trusting your gut?
Do you let your intuition be your guide?
I am slowly learning to listen to that still, small voice inside. I’ve often wondered why it can’t be louder so we never miss it? Well, that finally happened. I finally heard my holy howl!
For a long time, I have been trying to understand the relationship between art and spirituality in my life, in my work, and how I show up in the world. About ten years ago, I created a day-long retreat as the final requirement in my Master’s of Theology program. Rather than write a long, dull thesis paper, I created a retreat experience that invited participants to use images they created as a tool to encounter the Divine through a different doorway. My research supported the idea that images can offer a more primal, unedited way to connect with that which is deepest within us. It is like art therapy for the soul.
Following the retreat, I turned it into a semester-long college class that I called Artful Spirituality. On Mondays, we explored aspects of different ways of being spiritual, and Fridays were art days where I taught art basic concepts and techniques. The students’ final project was to visually represent their spiritual journey. I no longer teach college students but I kept that name for my website.
Did you notice that I taught art and spirituality separately? Only at the end of the semester were the students required to weave them together for their final project. Now, I see that as an early indicator that I didn’t quite grasp how the two were related.
Deep down, I knew that they were. I just wasn’t sure how. Are they two sides of the same coin? But they’d be facing opposite directions, at odds with each other. That didn’t feel right. Are they yin and yang? That concept feels like separate but equal and these two ideas are not separate for me.
Spirituality and art are really the same thing for me; I am unable or unwilling to untangle them. Spirituality originates from my very core; it feels like an essence that bubbles up and out of me through my artistic expression.
For far too long, I searched for the answer to my quandary, asking others who are successful in the online space. I was looking outside of me for the answer that could only be found inside of me. It was not until another artist suggested that I should create two separate Instagram accounts: one for my spirituality posts, and one for my art posts, that I felt a loud and holy “NOOOOO” howl from deep within me. It felt like he asked me to give up one of my children or cut off one of my limbs! No. No. Definitely not!
This experience brought immediate clarity from the only authentic place it could come. We all have wisdom deep within us if we allow ourselves to pause and listen. That still small voice of our souls starts out very timid and quiet because we’ve been conditioned to ignore and reject it and listen instead to voices of authority outside of our own bodies. But, if we ignore our soul’s longing long enough, it does get louder. It will not be ignored forever.
When I heard that holy howl from the deep, I understood the lyrics to the We Can Do Hard Things podcast outro: “we’ve stopped asking directions to places they’ve never been.”
So here is where I am now: creating art is a spiritual experience for me because I drop into a flow state and open to the voice of my soul. I want to do more of that because that is who I am.
Table of paint bottles from the studio of Jonas Gerard in Asheville NC
How about you? Do you have the desire to spend more time on your creative practice, whatever that looks like? Does it feel selfish to spend time and money on art, even if it brings you joy? Perhaps being creative is an exercise in frustration because the results do not please you.
Whether you are a beginner or a long-time creative, the desire to express yourself creatively was woven into you from the beginning along with the color of your eyes and your personality quirks! Thomas Merton said that a tree gives glory to God by being a tree. The same is true of us. By being who we were created to be, our most authentic self, we give glory to God. Your recognition of the desire to create and your allowing it to come to the surface and out into the world, is your acceptance of that desire, and a way to show your gratitude.
How does being creative bring glory to God? The only way those desires given to you by God can make their way into the world is if you allow the truest version of yourself to see the light of day.
Perhaps this little breathing mantra may help. Repeat these words, or riff off of them, as you take some deep breaths:
Inhale Spirit / Exhale art.
God is me inhaling / My true self, my life, my art is me exhaling.
Creating art is a form of prayer, / a sacred time, / a holy exhale.
Inhale Spirit / Exhale art.
My creating art is me expressing myself fully.
My art is my divine “Yes” to God’s invitation.
Inhale Spirit / Exhale my inspired voice.
Exhaling, my voice is expressed through my creativity.
Divine heart beats / Artistic voice creates,
calling into existence a world that did not exist before,
a world we haven’t seen yet.
Inhale Spirit / Exhale art.
Don’t ask people for directions to those unseen places.
They haven't been there!
Only you have the answer, and it will become clear once you create!
How adept are you at listening to your intuition? Does it ever howl at you? Let me know in the comments!