Category: spirituality

Creativity, focus, Personal Development, Personal growth, spirituality, Uncategorized

What Does Crafting the Spirit Mean, Anyway?

Adele Satori

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A while back, I went to an expressive arts summit, and came away with an entire series of workshops downloaded into my brain.

It felt so right, so what-I-am-here-to-do, it was frightening. So I put all my notes on one of my brain burners to let it simmer.

Not long after the summit, I was having a deep, delicious conversation with someone I often call my favourite mirror. I was describing what I wanted to do. Walking with people on their journeys of self discovery, using creativity as a tool.

“It’s almost like…. like… we’re crafting the spirit,” I said to him. Both our eyes got big, and I jumped on the computer and snagged the domain.

Now that I’ve created this page, and community, I’m getting asked. “What do you mean by crafting the spirit? I’m not creative. How does this apply to me?”

Well. I’m here to tell you. You don’t have to think of yourself as traditionally creative to do this.

What I mean by crafting the spirit is to create a life for yourself that holds meaning. So many times people say they feel lost.. or that they just can’t find their purpose. What if you considered that ****being*** is your purpose, and your journey is to experience, make discoveries, and create a life that holds meaning for you?

Learning how to cultivate a life where you release attachment to self doubt, comparison, the need to always be productive or in control- these are all ways of crafting the spirit and creating a life that hold meaning for you. It is yours; it is your precious gift.
Both freeing and intimidating, right?

For some people, this might mean surfing, or cycling, or dancing. For others it will be writing, or cooking, or painting. Playing music. Creating a welcoming environment in your home. Being the best parent you possibly can be. Being a mindful leader in your workplace or community. Spending time out in Nature.. our big beautiful planet.. Noodling around in a science lab. And yes.. relaxing and doing nothing is part of it all, too. To me, all of this is creative.

Using creative tools such as movement, drawing, music, creating various objects.. are all ways to get out of our heads and get into a flow. Start to observe and imagine the world around you differently. Shifting your perception even a little can yield amazing results. I’ve often been stuck on a challenge, and when I do something like knit, or create music, the tangle releases, and I know what to do. Working in a medium I’ve never tried, with the only expectation to explore what is possible… heaven!
I’ve had the challenge of not having blocks of time where I can hold in person workshops. One day, I decided to get around that for now by creating an online community, where we can gather, share, and learn together.

I’m so excited to se how this all evolves. Thanks for joining me!

You can find the online community here:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/929235890790763/?multi_permalinks=939561443091541&notif_id=1573092434571516&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic

Creativity, drawing, focus, Personal growth, sensation, spirituality

Visualizing Sensation

Adele Satori

visualizing-sensationb

Today while walking, two men passed me.  They smelled of old books.

Not long afterwards, I saw them admiring a tree.  One patted it with affection and said “I’m sure this tree has stories to tell.”  The other nodded.

Later I saw them again, looking at the plants in the garden.  First one would say something about it, then the other.  Sharing their knowledge, not in competition, but in conversation.  They looked at each other often in the way of loving understanding that only people who’ve been companions a long time do.  In my head I named the men Verso and Recto… facing pages in a book.

I sat on a bench and began to doodle, as I sometimes do there.  Doodling for me is a way to turn off my Inner Narrator- that constant voice in my head. I don’t think about what comes next; I just let the pen go where it will on the paper.  This time, I realized.. I was drawing the way the garden sounded and felt.  I was drawing sensation.. not what I saw.  I tuned in and continued with this focus. I will leave it to you to interpret what I was hearing, seeing, and feeling.

I’ve done this with creating music, or dancing before, but not drawing, and it felt amazing.

Will you take a moment to let your Inner Narrator settle and silence?  What do you hear?  What do you feel?  What does that look like?

I’d love to see what you come up with!

 

 

Personal growth, spirituality

Sacred

Adele Satori

lotus cactus

I was at one of my favourite places the other day.  I call the route the Sacred Mountain hike.  I could drive to the destination, but I like to park at the bottom and walk up to the top of the mountain.  There is a lot to see along the way.  Sometimes I chat with people who live in the neighbourhood.  Sometimes I need the exertion of one foot in front of the other until there is nothing but the step and the breath.

The whole area has always felt special to me, and several of the people who live in the area have told me it’s been a sacred place since it was inhabited only by the indigenous people.

I looked up from watching ants and saw a man stop at the cactus garden, then kneel.  Maybe he was doing as I had done.. kneeling to look more closely at things, then I realized he saw that garden as a sacred place. I witnessed how he used the place for healing, and it was a beautiful thing to see.

That to which we attach meaning becomes sacred.  It can be a place designed as such, used in reverence over centuries, or something as simple as a rock one finds while walking.

I’ve been reading some of dancer and choreographer Martha Graham lately.  What she says about dancers applies to us all.

“Wherever a dancer stands ready; that place is holy ground”

“The body is a sacred garment. It’s your first and last garment; it is what you enter life in and what you depart life with, and it should be treated with honor. ”

“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium, and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. ”

If we are mindful to be standing ready, opportunities begin to emerge…. things we were not able to see when our minds were too cluttered with the detritus of the every day.

Begin to see the sacred around you.

Begin to see the sacred in your Self.