deep rest + wild play = creative joy

Do you know Jen Louden, Marianne Elliot and Susannah Conway?  These three lovely, wise souls are offering very cool Creative Joy Retreat just outside of New York City at the end of June. As part of the warm-up they asked me (and some other peeps) if I had anything to share on the topic of creative joy. They are compiling them into a free ebook download.  Check back Monday for the link.  This is my contribution:

When I have built up a thundercloud of comparison, criticism and control, I take myself to the woods. Hug a tree (for real!). Lay down in the dirt (getting dirty is good!).  Let the stream sing me into deep rest. This is my invocation.

An invocation to restore creative joy

Before I create, allow me to be part of creation - to be re-created with the sweet breath of the wind and the spark of warmth from the sun above and the fire that burns deep in the heart of the earth. Let me rest until the birds visit me with their songs. Let me feel the patience of my  being in the stones polished by the rain. Let me rest until the rest is done.  Let me rest until I can feel the flames of the wild fire at the core of everything licking me tenderly - tickling my desire.

Then let the fire of my desire turn into the dance of wild play.  Let me laugh spontaneously at the miracle of life. Let me climb the trees under which I once rested. Let me smell every flower that has burst into bloom on the forest floor. Let me throw away any attempts to control and become a full participant in love. Let me transcend effort, striving and ambition and unleash freedom, imagination and the wilderness within. Let me dare to love first and dare to love more.

Let deep rest and wild play lead me into harmony with creative rhythms. Let me be receptive, responsive and attuned. Let me abandon the tensions that keep me stuck seeing the small bits and raise me up and let me see the wholeness. Let  creative joy inhabit me as much as I inhabit it. 

deep rest + wild play = creative joy

Hallelujah and Amen