Happy Second Bloggiversary to Me!
May 4, 2008 · by Christine
All the arts we practice are apprenticeship. The big art is our life.
-M.C. Richards
The most visible creators I know of are those artists whose medium is life itself. The ones who express the unexpressible - without brush, hammer, clay or guitar. They neither paint nor sculpt - their medium is being. Whatever their presence touches has increased life. They see & don’t have to draw. They are the artists of being alive.
Last Friday was my two-year Bloggiversary! Hard to believe I have been showing up in this space for that long. It makes me smile to look at my Poetry category in the sidebar and see the number of entries at over 100. When I first began, my blog was called the Sacred Art of Living, a name I still love, but I found there was occasional confusion with this fine place of the same name. So when I launched my brand new website I transferred all of my old posts over and claimed a name for myself that spoke of my love of monastic tradition and the arts while continuing to explore the intersection of spirituality and creativity. I experimented with some regular features such as (my favorite!) the every-other-week Poetry Parties, Visual Meditations which offer a few moments each week of invitation into wonder and seeing more deeply, the marvelous folks who have shared their wisdom through the Sacred Artist Interviews, and of course interspersed are lots of my own honest reflections on themes important to my heart like creativity, discernment, grief, nature, and living as fully and meaningfully as possible.
So I offer a warm thank you to all of you, my wonderful readers and supporters. Truly this has been a joyful place for me to connect with others of like mind and heart and a great discipline for my own creative journey. I would love to hear from you this day, especially if you’ve been reading silently for a while. There are a lot of you out there and so a comment or email would surely make my day.
If this blog helps to provide you with some inspiration along the way, I also invite you to consider supporting my work by visiting my Etsy store and buying some of my zines or prayer cards. They make wonderful gifts and great resources for reflection and times of retreat. Coming soon will be my fourth quarterly zine and a set of summer prayer cards!
-Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts
Posted in Fun |
May 4th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Happy bloggiversary, Christine! So glad you’re here. You’ve touched my life and continue to do so. Long may you blog!
May 5th, 2008 at 5:17 am
After tip-toeing in and around this space for months, it is impossible for me to ignore your invitation to ‘the silent one’s’ - so hello, Christine, and happy bloggiversary indeed. It has been pleasurable, meaningful and transformative to meander through these entries of word and picture: with the anniversary wishes, then, greetings of gratitude as well: Thanks!
May 5th, 2008 at 5:22 am
Happy Bloggiversary, Christine, and thank you, thank you, thank you!!
May 5th, 2008 at 5:38 am
Happy Bloggiversay! I have been enjoying your blog since July of last year (I went and checked when I first saved your link). I hadn’t realized it has been so long. I want to let you know how much I enjoy your blog - it is treat to read/see, inspirational and thought provoking. Thank you and keep blogging - you are making a wonderful contribution. I have always believed that we put ourselves out into the world with our gifts and best intentions and can’t always know who we may have made a difference to. Keep making a difference.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:43 am
Happy Boggiversary Christine! I just had my 2nd as well, a few weeks ago. Thanks for all the inspiration and creativity you continue to give.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:59 am
Hi Christine: I have been enjoying your wonderful, provocative writing and art in this space for only about a year, but it truly makes my day. I often take a break from work to visit your blog and to browse past conversations, and I always leave refreshed and uplifted, with a new direction to my thoughts. There have been days when your words have been just the ones I needed to hear. Thank you for sharing your gifts with us!
May 5th, 2008 at 9:30 am
may you experience a joyous day filled with lots of time to just “be”! happy happy anniversary. i cannot begin to adequately express the gratitude for finding this space; for as you well know, it was through this space that i found you, friend (since i am one of the lucky ones to live near “the abbey.” ) funny to think that you must have only been writing for a short time when i was introduced to your site…then met you…then experienced your wonderful awakening program…and the memories and inspiration continue from there.
it is so delightful to be on this journey with you. i am looking forward to seeing what the blue jays will unfold for us both separately and in collaboration & friendship.
blessings, dear friend. you are special beyond words. much love to you!
May 5th, 2008 at 10:10 am
HAPPY BLOGGIVERSARY, CHRISTINE!! (A day late…but I think it’s good to extend celebrations as long as possible.) Deep thanks to you for your ministry of images and words that nourish our senses and souls. Here’s to many blogful years to come.
Loved, loved, loved the Cloisters images.
Blessings to you.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Thanks HM, ditto.
Carolyn, Anna, and Rebecca, thanks so much for saying hello, I am grateful for your very kind words!
Kate, happy bloggiversary to you too!
Thanks Tricia, it is good to know you are here.
lucy, your words move me so much and I feel absolutely the same way. while we still may have connected through the awakening program, i think blogging gave us a way to recognize the seeds of a beautiful friendship.
Thank you Jan, I agree, I love to celebrate as long and as often as possible. I adore your blog as well and can’t wait for your next book!
I am really moved dear ones, thanks so much for taking a moment to say hello. I am grateful for the many gracious words here, it revives my blogging energy too! So I continue to welcome more comments, but want to express my gratitude for what I have already received.
May 5th, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Christine…
You and your site are a great gift to me this year. I love coming here and visit almost every day. You always has something that evokes feelings from deep within. I even enjoy trying my hand at a little poetry…even though the giftedness of the poets who post is phenomenal.
You have broadened my world in so many ways with the Awakening program. Thanks to sensitivity from you and Betsey, I was able to participate to a greater extent than usual. I think upon that week with awe…what a wonderful group and very sacred space for sharing.
Congratulations and deep thanks.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
A Happy Second Bloggiversary Haiku for you (this really is an occasion for a Poetry Party, don’t you think?):
Come to the Abbey,
Reflect, create, live fully,
in a sacred space.
Blessings to you. And thank you for bringing joy, meaning, discovery and creativity to our days through your words and images.
(So sorry I’m a day late.)
May 5th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Thanks Suz, it was a gift getting to know you through the Awakening program! Yes, a very wonderful group indeed of which you were an integral part!
Elaine, thank you so much for the haiku! What a lovely gift, it would make a fun Poetry Party.
and its never too late!
May 6th, 2008 at 5:32 am
Christine, thanks for your generosity, all the resources you draw from to make this Abbey an oasis of creativity and joy.
May 6th, 2008 at 8:11 am
Happy blobbiversary! You enrich our lives with your gift of photography, spiritual insight and creativity. Thanks!
May 6th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Happy Bloggiversary! My how time flies. Thank YOU for everything you do to make this a great place to come to for so many wonderful things
HUGS and LOVE
May 6th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Me too, me too! Happy Bloggiversary - it is always a comfort and inspiration to visit your words and your visual presentations. I look forward to the day we meet face to face.
xoxoxo
May 6th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Oh how wonderful to hear from all of you, thank you kigen, st inukshuk, Bette, and SS! I am grateful for all of your words.