"So, this week-end, I want to create a to-go bag, a creativity kit. I want a sketchbook and a collection of markers. I want my poet tarot deck of cards. I want an inspiring book that I can read in short snippets. I want a perfect pen. If I carried these things with me all the time, where would I be by this time next year?"
I did create this bag, and I have been trying to remember to carry it with me everywhere I go. Far harder is remembering to use the tools that are in the bag.
Two days after I put the bag together, I made this sketch during a quiet time at school (some people take lunch breaks or smoking breaks, so I try to take creativity breaks):
The next day was our first day of Winter quarter, and I haven't had many quiet times at school since. Last week I did sketch one day.
At the onground intensive, I did carry my creativity bag with me, but I didn't have a lot of downtime there either. I did lead my small group in a lectio divina type exercise that included sketching: I read a passage from the Bible and had people listen for what spoke to them. I suggested they write down the part of the passage, a word or phrase, or even just to draw a line or a shape as they heard the passage. Then I read the passage again.
One of the treasures of the onground intensive week was the feeling of time expanding. I didn't feel frazzled or irritated. There seemed to be plenty of time to get all the tasks of the day done. Let me continue to look for ways to insert this spirit into my workday world. One of those ways may be seizing time to sketch, a practice which grounds and centers me.
Let me also remember not to absorb the attitudes of those around me, to be the mirror not the sponge. I am aware of how many people are not centered or grounded, how many people are acting from a place of panic or anger. I'm also aware of how easy it is to be infected with those moods. Let me get back to some spiritual practices to avoid the infection.
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