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A new review of The Artist’s Rule

The lovely Claire over at A Catholic Woman’s Place has posted a review of The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul through Monastic Wisdom and has some really wonderful things to say.  Here is an excerpt: It is one of the best books I have read in the past decade, one of these works which is a seeker’s and a blogger’s dream: it is filled with idea of reflections, meditations, and quotes that trigger self-exploration and self-understanding. I do not want to tell you all that is inside this book. I would like you to be surprised and enchanted by

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Invitation to Poetry: The Great Journey

Welcome to the Abbey’s 52nd Poetry Party! I select an image and suggest a theme/title and invite you to respond with your own poem.  Scroll down and add it in the comments section below. Feel free to take your poem in any direction and then post the image and invitation on your blog (if you have one) and encourage others to come join the party! (permission is granted to reprint the image if a link is provided back to this post) On Sunday, August 14th, I will draw a name at random from the participants and the winner will receive a

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“Perhaps there is a moon shining”

During these hot summer days I find I want to merge with the coolness and mystery of stones.  Here is a poem offering just for the joy of poetry. Look for a new Poetry Party on Monday (and a return to regular ones this fall!) Stone Go inside a stone That would be my way. Let somebody else become a dove Or gnash with a tiger’s tooth. I am happy to be a stone. From the outside the stone is a riddle: No one knows how to answer it. Yet within, it must be cool and quiet Even though a

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New guest post at Bliss Chick

Stop by my latest guest post at the fabulous Bliss Chick on The Creative Soul as a Monk in the World. Monastic Wisdom to Nurture Creative Rhythms We have probably all had those times when the creative work just isn’t flowing like we want it to and it seems like such hard work to push forward.  I find a great deal of wisdom in monastic spirituality for creative flourishing. The Seasons of the Day The first is an awareness of the seasons.  Monks traditionally pray what is called the Liturgy of the Hours, gathering together up to seven times each

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Sacred Life Arts is featuring the Abbey and a podcast interview with me

Dana Reynolds is the wise and gracious presence behind Sacred Life Arts and offers so many amazing resources at her site which are in such harmony with the Abbey’s mission. So it was an absolute delight to have the opportunity to be interviewed by Dana. Abbey of the Arts is also the featured resource for the month of August! Stop by her site to see the post or listen to the interview below.  It is about 50 minutes long, so pour a cup of tea and listen for while.  Then make sure to peruse Dana’s other wonderful resources. [audio:http://www.mediafire.com/?o97uus9be0o1raz] Previous Virtual

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Next stop on the Virtual Book Tour – an interview with me at June Mears Driedger’s blog

June Mears Driedger has interviewed me over at her blog.  Stop by to read and leave a comment for a chance to win a free copy of The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom. Here is an excerpt: The title of your book is “The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom.” Intriguing title—but what do monks have to do with artists? Monasteries have been great centers of creativity since they were first formed – think of the beauty of Gregorian chant, the great illuminated manuscripts which bring text to life through a marriage with

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The Holy Pause: Spiritual Practices for a Time-Obsessed Culture

Stop by Patheos for my latest reflection: Time is the measure of things that come to an end, but where time itself ends, eternity begins . . . In the end, there is no end. The ends of time are near the roots of eternity, and the ends of the Earth touch on the other world or the world behind the world. –Michael Meade I was driving to my yoga class this morning but there was some kind of race blocking all of the cross streets I usually travel. I finally found my way around but at that point I

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New review of The Artist’s Rule at Spirituality and Practice!

I am delighted to share the latest review of The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom at the wonderful site Spirituality and Practice.  Here is a brief excerpt: Evidencing the same creative flair we saw in her book of spiritual insights into the elements, Paintner has now fashioned a twelve-week journey on the interplay between creativity, the contemplative path, and monastic wisdom. . . Paintner wants us to experience the joys of our inner monk and artist. These two parts of ourselves share a capacity for seeing the world beyond surface appearances; nourishing wonder, awe, and holy

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Awakening to our creative, sacred hearts

I am most honored to have a post featured over at Tess Giles Marshall’s beautiful site Pilgrim’s Moon (her site is subtitled “growing older on our own terms, a counter-cultural path for woman” and she offers great wisdom there regularly, so be sure to bookmark her) on Awakening to our creative sacred hearts: I teach a five-day workshop called Awakening the Creative Spirit, designed for soul care practitioners to kindle their own creativity and bring the arts to their work with others.  I love the metaphor of “awakening” because there is a gentleness to it, a soft transition from slumber

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Savoring Summer’s Sweet Slowness

Stop by Patheos for my latest reflection: “The summer night is like a perfection of thought.”  –Wallace Stevens “What is summer’s sweetness / but an invitation to respond?” —Lynn Ungar My husband and my work schedules run on the academic year which means that we work quite hard from fall through spring, but then summer opens up like a lavish gift before us.  I am finding these summer days I have been resistant even to the writing that I love so much, craving more silence and rest and so as I sit down to write this reflection I am drawn toward

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