Mood Boosters
Taking time to read some artful things offline made me feel better and improved my mood. Shocking, right?
“Rewilding the Kitchen: A Conversation with Rachel Yoder” with @lacockrel and @raijoy is my winner for the day even though I already read it yesterday
My favorite bits from Yoder:
“I think a lot of people have an allergy to religion in our contemporary culture, specifically a lot of liberals. As soon as you’re saying anything religious or spiritual, a switch flips. But there is obviously a spiritual dimension of being a human. Whether you want to refer to this mystery as God or think of it within a religious tradition is up to you. There are ways to think about it outside that. But just shutting it off isn’t the answer… I will always be more interested in literature that engages with bewilderment and the strangeness of being human and the possibility that some of the realest things about being human are the things we can’t see. It seems so cynical to leave mystery out of literature.”
“Nightbitch moving back into her art could be her moving into a performance of motherhood that is more authentic to her, because in order for her to make art, she couldn’t be pretending in life. Also, I wanted to have her on a stage at the end. It was important for her to move from being invisible to being highly visible.”
“When you bring control and obedience into the equation is when I start to get lost, or to lose God. Am I proposing for us all to become raving pleasure hounds motivated only by our basest urges? Of course not. Maybe what I’m saying is that I think our bodies are actually fundamentally good.”
I highly recommend reading this conversation and other things from this new issue of @image_journal (I haven’t read everything yet, but I’m working on it)
And there were a few good things in the Sunday NYT—my faves are shown here.
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Now I’m off to church even though it’s very very cold outside. We will be fine because we have outerwear
Cheers to good words + art + quilts + taking breaks from the chaos, anxieties, & tragedies.
💚Charlotte
Charlotte Donlon is a writer, spiritual director, and gatherer whose work centers on helping people explore themes of belonging through art, spiritual growth, and how to Flourish Anyway™, even when life is full, busy, or chaotic. Her work has woven together themes of belonging, art, and soul exploration for more than 25 years. With a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing (2015-2018) and a certificate in spiritual direction (2018-2020), Charlotte guides writers and other creative souls in fostering sanctuaries of acceptance and connection—her approach warmly welcomes people from all backgrounds, regardless of faith tradition or spiritual inclinations.
A Christian in the Episcopal church who believes the tenets of the Nicene Creed, Charlotte employs a universal framework of belonging and connection in her spiritual direction work that’s welcoming to all and fosters meaningful, soulful conversations.
In 2020, Broadleaf Books published Charlotte's first book, The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. Her book, Spiritual Direction for Writers, is slated for release by Eerdmans in September 2026.
As the founder of several initiatives, including Flourish Anyway™, Thoughtful Books Etc.™, Belonging through Art™, Spiritual Direction for Writers®, Spiritual Direction for Belonging®, and Parenting with Art®, Charlotte has established herself as a thought leader and an authentic presence at the intersection of creativity and spirituality. Her essays have been featured in prominent publications such as The Washington Post, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, and The Millions, among others. A new essay about art conservation, Joan Mitchell, and mystery is forthcoming with Image.
For those interested in staying updated on Charlotte's latest work, news, and insights, subscribe here and visit Flourish Anyway™, Charlotte’s online hub for all of her writing, spiritual direction, small press, gatherings, and other offerings.