Now I am revealing new things to you
Things hidden and unknown to you
Created just now, this very moment.
Looking for a bit of creative inspiration on Amazon the other day, I came across The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom by Christine Valters Paintner in between all the Zen and Tao of photography books. Not that there is anything wrong with those books, but I still feel like I have oceans of depth to plumb in my own Roman Catholic tradition before I go wandering around to the others and so I was excited to see something in that genre that was based on Western (specifically Benedictine) monasticism.
Coincidentally (serendipitously?), it happened to be the book of the month at Patheos. The Anchoress even gave it a positive review! The more I read ABOUT the book, the more I wanted to give it a try. So I got it and set to work. Now that I’ve finished week one, I thought I would share a little bit about the journey so far.
I am six months pregnant with my seventh child. That’s me in the photo. The text above, from Isaiah, was the suggested reading for the lectio divina portion of the week. Being pregnant, it’s pretty easy to associate that reading with a child, new life. But it’s a bit more of a stretch to see what it has to say about creativity.
After a week of meditating, it speaks to me of stopping and listening. I’m so often running around — putting out fires, surrounded by activity and noise and yes, sometimes chaos — that it becomes almost impossible to hear. This reading tells me that to make art that is deeper and more meaningful, I need to stop and listen for quieter voices that are coming from far below the surface.
And for those joining from Kim’s Texture Tuesday party, here is the layers palette. I finally remembered to grab a screenshot! : )
Wow! I’m so glad to have visited you 🙂 Wonderful photo of you there and wise words indeed.Â
Such a lovely photo!
Congrats on your upcoming birth! Â WOW….7! Â How do you even have time for photography? Â This image is stunning….you should frame and hang it!
Thanks, Jill! Yeah, I learned long ago that laundry would always be piling up and the floor would always need sweeping so you may as well take a few minutes to do something you want. Otherwise I tend to get really cranky! ; )
Beautiful photo of you and your baby to be, Jessica! LOVE the scripture with it. Enjoy slowing down now, while you can! 😉 Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a lovely comment. Blessings!
Oh this intrigues me.  I’m a Oblate with the Benedictine Monastery by our small town.  I love to create.  I have six kids….So.  I think I may check this book out. 🙂
And, I pray for many blessings for you and your crew! Â May you have a blessed delivery of number seven!
Thanks, Jill. I do really recommend it!Â
Stunning photo, Jessica! I really love what you did with it. It speaks of life without needing words.
Beautiful picture, love the use of textures and the creative way to show your gift from God! Congratulations and many blessings to you.
A superb image of motherhood. Â Congratulations to you and your family. Â I come from a long line of Catholics. My husband is one of 8 boys (no girls) and his mother was one of 15. Â What joyous households they had, as I imagine yours is also.
Don’t be nervous about street photography. Â My mistake was having my camera out at the entrance where their security cameras saw my camera, so I was approached immediately and asked to put it away. Â Instead, I chose to leave. Â I need a smaller camera – sort of a concealed weapon – ha!
~~karen
Aw, that’s truly a sweet photo. I love it!
Beautiful image! congrats to you & your family.
This is awesome, Jessica — your seventh! What a blessing! Love your pastel orange photo – says so much. thanks for the rain sentiments — we’re supposed to get some near the end of this week — we’ll see.
Who took this beautiful picture?Well, I can say that she is considered one the most creative pregnancy photographers in the world. I just love the way she captured this photo. Anyway, this is a blessing,congrats to you!Â
A lovely and creative image for Texture Tuesday!
Thanks so much for all your sweet comments, everybody! Texture Tuesday is my favorite link party of all — the pictures are all beautiful and inspirational and the community vibe is just the best! : )
Okay I get that pregnant women are beautiful and all that. My beautiful wife was very beautiful with each of our two kids. But most of the pregnancy pics don’t do much for me. This one, OTOH, is just fantastic. Love the dreamy effect. Great work!
Ha! I think you win the award for best comment!! I, too, am not a big fan of pregnant women shots. I don’t really get it either but that’s probably because I’ve always felt huge and awful at the end and really didn’t want to remember the pregnancy at all — just get on with the cute baby… Thanks for the compliment, coming from you, it means a lot. : )
Jessica, I just came across this post. I’ve been falling behind in my world of creativity. My focus has been on preparing for this year’s lessons. I’ll be tackling reading and writing with five-year-old Jack (and knowing two-year-old Stella, with her too). Your belly shot really is lovely and such a nice departure from the increasingly-cliched ones that abound on Flickr. You’ll have to slow down with all of your recommendations, though. I can’t keep up!
I know — I’m sure the days with out power didn’t help either! ; ) I’m really trying hard right now to establish a routine that includes time for writing/photography right now, since most of mine are back into their school routine.