Rhythm. Two weeks in, and it’s all I know. In the quiet, it’s hard not to notice. The sun in its rising. The burr of sleep that makes my husband’s voice molasses sweet to my ears as he hands me my coffee. The steam that curls. The volume in the house that rises like baking bread and falls again as the children are tucked into bed, snug in loaf pan beds and bunks to rise again. The darkness that falls, the slow jewel-toned water color painting that bleeds purple dusk through matchstick trees, dressing the shivering bones with gossamer until their party dresses arrive. The slow gentle rock-a-bye of a wee girl who just doesn’t want to miss one little thing, convincing her that all the wonders will be waiting for her in the morning. And then, realizing in the kneel before sleep, the miracle that happens daily…we sleep, and we awake. The clay turns, and we arise again. But we must lay it down, fragile. Body can’t go without restoration and rest.
And in these heart breaths, the studio too, rising and falling, the leaven of work and rest. “Each in it’s own time,” has echoed through my thoughts. This has been a fertile, growing period. Prayerfully considering dreams, trusting them to the Lord. He will bring the increase.
I haven’t been online much at all this week, but Ali’s newsletter this week had me nodding at each and every point. Here’s a little snippet:
“What do you do when negativity and jealousy and the comparison crazy-making pops up and starts impacting your creativity?
There have been times I’ve wallowed in it. There’ve been times when I just curled up on the couch, turned on the tv, and tuned out. I strongly dislike being in that space. I much prefer being in a positive, forward-moving, creativity-generating, life-affirming space.”
By choice, my Lenten fast is turning a lot of those distractions off. Considering her thoughts, I’m thinking about how this rhythm of quiet is so necessary in creating, and ways to carry Lent into the rest of the year. What are ways that I can keep this Lenten space in the studio as the calendar turns from Spring to Summer and beyond?