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Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving I have been trying to read the script cut in these hills— a language carved in the shimmer of stubble and the solid lines of soil, spoken in the thud of apples falling and the rasp of corn stalks finally bare. The pheasants shout it with a rusty creak as they gather in the fallen grain, the blackbirds sing it over their shoulders in parting, and gold leaf illuminates the manuscript where it is written in the trees. Transcribed onto my human tongue I believe it might sound like a lullaby, or the simplest grace at table. Across the

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November 23, 2008

Prayers for Petunia

This has been one of those weeks where both joy and sorrow dwell together.  It has been a week of wonderful news and opportunities, but it has also been a week where I have not been feeling that well. Even more difficult was to bring my sweet Petunia into the vet today because of a small lump we found in her chest the other day and find out she needs surgery on Monday to have it removed and biopsied because it is quite possible she has cancer.  So yesterday I asked you to celebrate with me, and today I ask

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November 21, 2008

opportunity to hear Kathleen Norris

If you are around today at 5:00 p.m. PST/8:00 p.m. EST and wished you could have heard Kathleen Norris’ great talk about Advent at the Seattle Art Museum a couple of weeks ago, you can catch her being interviewed online.  You can listen either over the phone or via the web, the information is here. **ADDED NOTE ** You can click the link above to download the mp3 file and listen at your leisure (the sound doesn’t come on until just past the one minute mark, so be patient) :-)

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November 20, 2008

Expressive Arts Certification

Celebrate with me!  I just received confirmation that my application for REACE status (Registered Expressive Arts Consultant and Educator) was approved by IEATA (International Expressive Arts Therapy Association).  It was quite an intensive and thorough application process that included a Masters degree in a related field, a minimum of 2000 hours of expressive arts work experience, 200 hours of expressive arts training, an autobiographical statement, a statement of philosophy, a portfolio of both personal process and of a case study (including visual elements), three professional letters of reference, a resume, an ethical guidelines statement, promotional material, and transcripts.  I am quite honored to

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November 20, 2008

Sparrow

(photo of sparrow taken while sitting on a park bench in Riga, Latvia this summer) -Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts

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November 17, 2008

Discovering the True Self

A couple of weeks ago I had my first Thai massage session. It is different than traditional Swedish style massage in that you are fully clothed and lay on a mat.  The massage practitioner stretches your body in different directions to help release tension.  There is also a lot of rhythmic rocking so that the body relaxes deeply. While we were in the midst of the work, the woman who was giving me the massage commented that I surrendered very easily.  She said most people have a lot of resistance to complete relaxation and releasing into her hold. The next day I

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November 14, 2008

Sacred Artist Interview: Claudia Campbell

I am delighted to feature Claudia Campbell in this week’s Sacred Artist Interview. As with many of the artists I know, I first encountered her work through my role as art editor for Presence journal.  We later had the pleasure of connecting by phone and I enjoyed hearing about Claudia’s own connections as both a spiritual director and an artist. I am grateful to Claudia for taking time to share of her wisdom and insight into the creative process and spiritual journey with all of my wonderful readers: ____________________________________________ Are you rooted in a particular faith tradition? I am rooted

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November 12, 2008

Kathleen Norris

I have had a few emails inquiring about how Kathleen Norris’ talk was last Saturday.  I will write more as we get closer to Advent since she focused primarily on her contribution to the book God With Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas (which may become my new favorite resource for Advent with its gorgeous art and contributions by such wonderful writers as Luci Shaw, Scott Cairns, and Emilie Griffin). As my dear friend lucy said at her blog (and with whom I had the pleasure of sharing the evening), Kathleen Norris “is a regular person. She sometimes doesn’t journal for weeks and has been known

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November 11, 2008

Invitation to Poetry: Written On Our Hearts

Our twenty-seventh Poetry Party!  I select an image and suggest a title and invite you to respond with your poems, words, reflections, quotes, song lyrics, etc. Leave them in the comments or email me and I’ll add them to the body of the post as they come in along with a link back to your blog if you have one (not required to participate!) I’ll add your contributions all week and then I will draw a name at random on Friday morning from everyone who participates. Feel free to take your poem in any direction and then post the image and invitation on your

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November 10, 2008

Blessings on your weekend . . .

I made it onto this list of 100 Blogs That Will Inspire You to Be a Better Person under the “Being Happy” category.  There are some interesting links there, so check it out. Tomorrow night (Saturday, November 8th) Kathleen Norris will be speaking at the Seattle Art Museum on the theme of “Remembering, Waiting, Hoping: Reclaiming the Countercultural Pursuits of Christmas.”  I’ve never heard her speak in person, so I am excited for the chance, maybe I will see some of you there? I admit it’s a bit early to start thinking about Christmas, but I also admit that this

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November 7, 2008