The wonderful folks over at Spirituality and Practice have chosen The Artist’s Rule as one of their 50 best books of the year under the category of Creativity. You can buy a copy of The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom at Amazon.com or from your local bookseller. Interested in hearing more about the book.  There have been some fabulous reviews including this one at Image Journal (under Features). This past summer I went on a blog book tour and if you are new to the Abbey or the newsletter, here are some interviews and articles you

Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist is a 12-week online journey with fellow monks and artists and limited to 15 participants for intimacy and depth of sharing. The first section filled a couple of weeks ago so I have decided to add a second one for winter (January 9-April 1, 2012).  This will take you through Lent and is a wonderful way to begin the new year with commitment to your contemplative and creative practice. Once this section fills there will not be any more added and this will be the last time the class is offered until

Kristin Berkey-Abbot at Liberation Theology Lutheran has a great post suggesting The Artist’s Rule as a creative companion through the season of Advent (and I agree, it is a brilliant idea): If you’re looking for a disciplined approach and a guide to walk you through each practice and to help you make the connections between spirituality and art, allow me to recommend Christine Valters Paintner’s latest book, The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom. Much like Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, Paintner’s book is set up as a 12 week intensive immersion into techniques and practices that

The lovely and wise Claire at A Seat at the Table has a beautiful post at her blog about embarking on a journey with my latest book The Artist’s Rule as her companion. Each of us uses a bit or a lot of that Creativity which comes from the same Source. Each one of us is a facet of that Creative Source. Beautifully, in it, we are One. Click here to read more>>

I first met Paula Huston about five years ago when I took a nonfiction writing class she was teaching through the fabulous Glen workshop.  The Glen is a really wonderful gathering of writers and artists wrestling with the questions of meaning and substance in life.  Paula is a gifted teacher and also offers her wisdom for writers through the Image Journal‘s online manuscript critique in creative nonfiction.  She is also a Camaldolese Benedictine oblate and the author of several books on the spiritual life. Leave a comment below for a chance to win a free signed copy of The Holy Way: Practices for

I received my copy of “Listen” today which is a free publication of Spiritual Directors International.  My book The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom received a lovely review.  Here is an excerpt: In The Artist’s Rule, the familiar subjects of creativity and spirituality explode into a kaleidoscope of connections that invite the reader into the borderland where these topics converge. Grounded in scholarly knowledge, the book quotes Scriptures, theologians, mystics, psychologists, artists, poets, and others, yet it reads like a stimulating conversation with a soul friend. To read the whole review, here is the PDF>> Consider joining me

Beth Patterson at Virtual Tea House offered to write this guest post for the Abbey in support of a new book being published (see below).  I am delighted to host her words here.  Last Christmas I had what felt very much like my own near death experience (or NDE as Beth writes) and I am very intrigued by the qualities common to folks who touch their own mortality in such an intimate way.  I am also drawn to her story because of the wisdom she expresses from her grandmother and my own deep appreciation for what our ancestors offer to us.