Writing As Prayer and Interrogation: A Guided Reflection for Writers, Journalers, and Creative Souls
Daily Nourishment Read Time: 45 seconds
Pause/Prompt/Practice Time: 15 minutes
“Sometimes it’s like prayer,” she told me. “Other times it’s more of an interrogation.”
-Spiritual Direction for Writers: Everyday Rituals for Your Writing Life
Pause.
Sit in silence while taking four deep breaths. Use the words below for a breath prayer or breath meditation on each of the inhales and exhales:
Inhale: Expand my soul.
Exhale.
Inhale: Hold my soul.
Exhale.
Inhale: Expand my soul.
Exhale.
Inhale: Hold my soul.
Exhale.
Repeat as many times as you like.
Prompt.
“For other writers, the persistent questioning that creative work entails is a way of attending to the holy in their midst. During a recent public event with André Holland and Imani Perry celebrating Perry’s book Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People, a member of the audience asked what role faith plays in their art. Perry responded first without hesitating: ‘It’s all over the place. It’s expansive. My spiritual landscape is very broad and complex but it’s in everything.’
When I had a moment to ask a follow-up question during my turn at the book-signing table, I asked Perry if she could share more about how the act of writing is a spiritual practice. ‘Sometimes it’s like prayer,’ she told me. ‘Other times it’s more of an interrogation.’
After I got home with my signed copy, I sank into a corner of the sofa and looked for Perry’s interrogations. The first sentence of the book is a question. ‘Which is your favorite color blue?’ she asks her cousin’s son while they are sitting in her grandmother’s bedroom full of many shades of blue. More questions follow not far behind…”
-Spiritual Direction for Writers: Everyday Rituals for Your Writing Life
Practice.
Take 10 minutes to journal or record notes in response to the words above and the questions below.
-How do writing and other creative expressions expand your soul?
-How is writing like prayer or meditation for you?
-What questions are you asking and responding to when you write?
-What do your experiences of writing show you about yourself and the divine?
Want More?
Read Spiritual Direction for Writers: Everyday Rituals for Your Writing Life.
Read Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry
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Today’s Daily Nourishment was provided by Charlotte Donlon.
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