Abbey of the Arts

Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

  • Welcome
    • Prayer Cycle
      • Introduction to the Earth Monastery Prayer Cycle
      • Day 1 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Cathedral
      • Day 2 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Scriptures
      • Day 3 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Saints
      • Day 4 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Spiritual Directors
      • Day 5 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Icon
      • Day 6 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Sacrament
      • Day 7 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Liturgy
      • Prayer Cycle Leader Resources
    • About the Abbey
    • About Christine Valters Paintner
    • About John Valters Paintner
    • About the Wisdom Council
    • Monk Manifesto
    • Join the Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks
    • Subscribe to Our Love Notes
    • Website privacy notice
  • Books
    • Sacred Time:
      Embracing an Intentional Way of Life
    • The Wisdom of Wild Grace: Poems
    • Earth, Our Original Monastery:
      Cultivating Wonder and Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature
    • Dreaming of Stones: Poems
    • The Soul's Slow Ripening:
      12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred
    • The Wisdom of the Body:
      A Contemplative Journey to Wholeness for Women
    • Illuminating the Way:
      Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics
    • The Soul of a Pilgrim:
      Eight Practices for the Journey Within
    • Eyes of the Heart:
      Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice
    • The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom
    • Desert Mothers and Fathers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings Annotated & Explained
    • Lectio Divina–The Sacred Art: Transforming Words and Images into Heart-Centered Prayer
    • Water, Wind, Earth & Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements
    • Awakening the Creative Spirit:
      Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction
    • Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening & Awareness
  • Poetry | Art | Music
    • Music + DVD
    • Poetry by Christine Valters Paintner
    • Poetry Videos
    • Dancing Monk Icons
    • Other Art Collaborations
      • Monk in the World art series by Kristin Noelle
      • Saints & Animals art series by David Hollington
      • Sacred Time art series by Alexi Francis
      • Mary block print art series by Kreg Yingst
  • Programs
    • Walk the Ancient Paths: Pilgrimage
      • Monk in the World (Ireland)
      • Writing on the Wild Edges (Ireland)
      • Poetry and the Sacred Garden of the World (Ireland)
      • Vienna Monk in the World (Austria)
      • Hildegard of Bingen (Germany)
    • Live Programs and Spiritual Retreats
      • Awakening the Creative Spirit: Experiential Education for Spiritual Directors in the Expressive Arts (Northwest)
    • Community Online Retreats
      • Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color
      • The Way of the Hermit:
        A Spiritual Survival Guide for Dark Times
        with Kayleen Asbo, PhD
      • The Spiral Way:
        Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination
      • Journey with the Desert Mothers and Fathers (Lent 2021)
      • Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life (Spring 2021)
    • Self-Study Online Spiritual Retreats
      • Creative Flourishing in the Heart of the Desert:
        An Online Retreat with St. Hildegard of Bingen
      • Dreaming of the Sea:
        A women’s discernment journey through the story of the Selkie
      • Earth, Our Original Monastery
        A Companion Retreat to the Book (SELF-STUDY)
      • Exile and Coming Home:
        An Archetypal Journey through the Scriptures
      • Eyes of the Heart:
        Photography as Contemplative Practice
        (Companion retreat to the book)
      • Honoring Saints and Ancestors:
        Online Retreat for the Season of Remembrance
      • Lectio Divina:
        The Sacred Art of Reading the World
      • A Midwinter God:
        Making a Conscious Underworld Journey
      • Sacred Rhythms of Sky, Sun, Sea & Stone:
        A Creative Retreat with the Elements (SELF-STUDY)
      • Sacred Seasons:
        A Yearlong Journey through the Celtic Wheel of the Year
      • The Soul of a Pilgrim:
        Eight Practices for the Journey Within
        (a companion retreat to the book)
      • The Soul's Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seekers of the Sacred (a companion retreat to the book)
      • Water, Wind, Earth & Fire
      • Watershed Moments
        in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures
      • Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist:
        A 12-Week Companion Retreat to The Artist's Rule
      • The Wisdom of the Body:
        A 10-Week Online Companion Retreat to the Book
      • The Wisdom of Mary and the Sacred Feminine
  • Calendar
  • Reflections
  • Contact

Fun

100 Things (Part Two)

Scroll down past the photos for Part One. 

I have lost
51. both of my parents (I am reminded here of that Oscar Wilde line: "to lose one parent may be regarded as a misforture, to lose both looks like carelessness.")
52. my innocence.
53. my sweet animal companion.
54. friendships I thought would never end.
55. all four of my grandparents.
56. faith in moments of despair.
57. my ability to move my wrists freely.
58. my connection to my body and then over many years slowly re-discovered it again.
59. my Austrian citizenship (I had dual citizenship as a child)
60. touch with my aunt who lives in Brussels, my father's twin sister.

I have found
61. great faith and hope in darkness.
62. joy in the simplest of pleasures.
63. laughter in moments of great sorrow.
64. the great love of my life.
65. friends who are fellow mystics and walk the contemplative and creative path alongside of me.
66. holiness in inhabiting my grief fully.
67. the Sacred Presence within me and I love her fiercely.
68. wisdom in dreams that led me to places I might never have ventured otherwise.
69. a deep and abiding love for creatures of the earth.
70. a love for the alchemy of cooking, transforming food into nourishment.

I can
71. sit in stillness for hours at a time, drinking in silence like rain.
72. walk deeply into the forest and let a heart greater than mine lead me.
73. see beaneath the surface of things to hidden, shimmering depths.
74. explore other worlds through language and my rusty memories of French and German.
75. lose myself in cooking a meal, pouring love into each chop and stir.
76. giggle uncontrollably with delight.
77. let myself cry when I am suddenly lifted on a wave of sorrow.
78. see the faint horizons of the places to which God is calling me.
79. try to create beauty from words and images.
80. swim in the ocean and feel utterly free.

I hope
81. to live fully into my calling.
82. to be fully present to others who seek me out for guidance or friendship.
83. to create a healing rhythm in my life.
84. for the glorious days of autumn to wrap me in their beauty.
85. to live even more intentionally into the seasons and the changing night sky with her glorious phases of the moon.
86. to celebrate my 60th wedding anniversary in stunningly good health!
87. to one day be able to live part-time on a boat, sailing around the Northwest, our very own Abbey of the Sea.
88. to continue to let the beauty I love be what I do.
89. to care less about living up to other people's expectations of me.
90. for the world to grow in kindness and care for one another, for the earth, and for her creatures.

I am trying
91. to become fully mindful of what I eat and aware of the ways I nourish my body.
92. to live and dance more deeply into my dreams.
93. to surrender more fully into my call to be writer and artist, monk and mystic.
94. to allow the wisdom of wild things to infuse me.
95. to live as deliberately as possible, to savor each moment as precious, each day as gift.
96. to trust fully what is emerging within me.
97. to trust that there will be enough.
98. to become myself.
99. to become fire*
100. to be free.

*from that marvelous little gem of a story from the Desert Fathers: Abba Lot came to Abba Joseph and said: Father, according as I am able, I keep my little rule, and my little fast, my prayer, meditation and contemplative silence; and, according as I am able, I strive to cleanse my heart of thoughts: now what more should I do? The elder rose up in reply and stretched out his hands to heaven, and his fingers became like ten lamps of fire. He said: Why not become fire?

PS — I thought of a few more things I love to add to Part One: homemade soup, Irish Breakfast tea with cream and sugar, cozying up under a soft blanket by a roaring fire, a long hot bath, plush towels, the smell of roses and lavender, Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show," the way my husband makes me feel absolutely cherished.

What do you love?  What do you want to hold so tightly it will become knit into your very bones?

-Christine Valters Paintner

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6 Comments September 20, 2006

Upcoming Programs

The Way of the Hermit:
A Spiritual Survival Guide for Dark Times

January 22-24, 2021
with Kayleen Asbo, PhD

The Spiral Way:
Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination

Hosted by the Rowe Center
February 1-21, 2021
with Christine Valters Paintner, PhD

Recent Reflections

  • Humility + Join us today for live prayer! ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Hildy Tales 2: Tús maith leath na hoibre – by John Valters Paintner
  • New Book Club for 2021: Lift Every Voice ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Hildy Tales One: Dia dhuit, is mise Hildy! by John Valters Paintner, Your Online Prior
  • Celebrate the Earth Monastery Prayer Cycle podcast with us!

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