AwakenCreative: Day 8 A 40-day Journey Of Self-Discovery

Walking through the desert, the dark night of the soul, happens to everyone. When you can see it is a journey to discovery, not desolation, you can manifest your best self into the world more wholly and beautifully. As an artist, this can change the fabric of your self-expression in the most dynamic and engaging ways. Let's begin the walk with eyes wide open!

Transcript

Awakened, Creative, Welcome, Day 8 of this 40 day journey, Planting seeds of creativity in the desert. In an earlier recording, I went into the confusion that I'd created complicating the world I'd created and the burnout that came from all that complicating of things. I'm expanding on that here with a quote to start things off from Thomas Merton, Duty does not have to be dull, Love can make it beautiful and fill it with life. As long as we show some lines of division between duty and pleasure in the world of the spirit, We will remain far from God and from his joy. I don't necessarily identify as Christian, Which Thomas Merton was, He was a Catholic monk, But I was raised in that tradition so when I use words around the ideas of spirit and divinity, Co-creation, They tend to come from that framework. I believe though that all man-made religions come from the same core of spirituality. It's that divine spark in everyone and every created thing. It's also the connective community and unfortunately it can get complicated by the efforts of humans, But I think we're offered the opportunity to simplify as we look at it all and try to share with each other what it means to have that divine spark and that's I suppose my efforts here, My biggest effort here. So on that caveat, That quote again, Thomas Merton, Duty does not have to be dull, Love can make it beautiful and fill it with life. As long as we show lines of division between duty and pleasure in the world of the spirit, We will remain far from God and from his joy. I picture, I believe it was Noah in the Bible, Noah after all of his work showing up, Speaking God's word, Not seeing it transform the way he imagined it would, Not have the impact he hoped he would have on the people, But rather God's hand at work. He went and sat under a tiny little tree and had a pity party. That's a bit what it looks like to me, What this quote from Merton speaks to by duty becoming dull. We can all look at our tasks, The cleaning of the house, The going to the job, The doing the groceries, The washing the car as drudgery, Yet again with that small shift I mentioned in that previous recording, With that small nuanced shift, All of these are, If you will, By the grace of God. So in that light, I like to use the term I overuse, Which is, I get to. The breath in me has the opportunity to live in the world every day, Every second of every day. And not only is it my responsibility, But it's my choice to breathe that breath in whatever way I choose. This reminder from Merton in this quote brings me back to that and kind of shluffs off the layers of that Noah's self-pity and burnout that I'd let become the story I was telling myself of my journey. I, And I alone, Complicated the path I was walking. I, And I alone, Now take responsibility for that, Shed those layers, And come back to that core, That central knowingness, That truer purpose that is joy in God, That is the burning spirit in me. So today, I ask you to take up a challenge. Sit with your frustrations for a moment. Review your to-do list, Your duty-bound obligations that may sometimes feel like drudgery, And peel them away. Return to the core of all of those things, And hold them up again. Against the light of your divine spark. Remind yourself why you chose these things in your world to become your life. And again, Choose to hold them responsibly. Awaken creative. Go create your life, Today.