Creative Monday

Yesterday was the best kind of day, full of creativity of all sorts, some of which was seminary work.  Let me make a list in chronological order:

--We talked about what to make for our main meal, which we usually eat in the middle of the day.  I needed something with more veggies, and my spouse wanted something that wasn't our same old, same old.  We went with a beef, barley, mushroom stew, which also had odds and ends from our past week of cooking:  carrots, potatoes, and fennel bulb remnants.  We created it together, and ended up with something delicious.

--I went for a walk with my phone so that I could take pictures for the Foundations of Worship self-contextualization PowerPoint that I need to create this week.

--I worked on my PowerPoint, which felt more like creative work than academic work.

--Mid-afternoon, I walked to a friend's house to do spiritual direction which involves lectio divina and collaging.  It was the kind of afternoon that I hoped I would have when we moved here to an area where I already knew people.  Hurrah!

--I came home and did some more work on my PowerPoint.

--In the evening, I went to a poetry group in eastern Tennessee that meets by way of Zoom.  My mom's cousin who lives in Oak Ridge invited me.  I said yes, and wasn't sure what to expect.  We went person by person, and each person read up to 3 poems.  If someone didn't want to read, that was fine.  We didn't offer suggestions or critiques, which was fine with me.  There was also sharing of upcoming conferences, workshops/classes, and reading possibilities.  It seemed like the best kind of grass roots poetry group; it was clear that some of them interact in real life, and that some of them have taken classes together.  They brought a variety of poems to the group, and no one abused their time by reading a 20 page poem.

It was the best kind of day.  I didn't feel overwhelmed by all that I need to get done, and all day, I thought about topics that interest me.  And I felt that gratitude that comes from knowing that day after day, I get to be in this state (both the state of North Carolina and my mental state).  It's so different from my pre-pandemic life, when 40-60 hours a week, I had people demanding that I think about what they thought was important, that I solve problems without any resources to do so, and those shouty voices filled my brain even when I wasn't at work.

It's wonderful to be able to hear my own voice, and the voices of those who love me and the things I love (creativity, good food, poetry, good worship, God and God's vision for the world), in my current life.