Sacred Reading

My heart is a contemplative one. I am equal parts artist and monk in the world. As a young person I was thoroughly obsessed with The Sound Of Music, and the image of Julie Andrews in her habit but also freely twirling in the open air and singing matched an inner knowing. I had wanted to go more towards a contemplative life, but my father’s death when I was 17 altered my course (and recognition of my desire) to be more “in the world”. I began experimenting with bringing monastic principles and contemplative practices into my life at 17. Particularly the principle of Stability, which essentially says “Stay Put”. In a world where we are encouraged to hustle and grind, this has been a tether to myself and to what is truly important to me. I began living into this principle by creating daily practices for myself. It started with sketching, then writing, then yoga, back to writing but this time through a poem form called Pantoum, then daily painting, which is where I’ve landed for nearly 7 years now. The painting created for this issue is one of my daily paintings.

In addition to the pull to contemplative life, I am also deeply nourished by my matrilineal roots to an Indigenous perspective on being in relationship with all that is, strongly including the More-Than-Human.

I have found much harmony in bringing these worlds together. The mystic roots of much of what sustains the contemplative soul ride the currents of encounter, which is deeply felt and known through inner faculties of sight, sound, sense, feeling - the pathways that artist also knows and translates from inner to outer.