DEEP CONVERSATIONS
exploring creativity through some deep conversations
with spiritual teachers who also are artists / writers
naomi rose, book developer & creative midwife
To write deeply is to have a deep conversation with yourself
These recorded conversations with spiritual teachers who are also artists and/or writers explore how creativity and spirituality interweave, offering insights that can transform your own writing journey.
A deep conversation begins with listening — the kind of extended attention that pulsates with presence but is empty of content, to begin. And then, into this lovely waiting net comes — something. That "something" is the response. If the listening is deep enough (see the "Deep Listening" page for more on this), then a conversation ensues.
One morning I awoke with a desire to participate in deep conversations. To engage subtly and meaningfully with people whom I respected and wanted to learn about, and in so doing find ourselves in some shared but unexpected territory, some harmony not entirely of our own making. Not an "interview," so much as a deep conversation.
The distinction here is that, unlike an interview, there is no hierarchy, no “insider” and “outsider,” no “expert” and “questioner.” There are, instead, two beings who are available to hear themselves and one another. Out of this mutual exploration, something may emerge that goes beyond what either person was fully aware of beforehand, and that brings both of them to an experience and realization of wholeness.
Following my bliss, I reached out to people whose being (as well as work, ideas, lives) called out my wonderment and gratitude. On this page are the fruits of this inspiration.
These deep conversations about creativity reveal how spiritual practice and artistic expression can transform the writing process.
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“The Courage to Keep Our Creativity Alive”
A CONVERSATION ON CREATIVITY
with Artist and Spiritual Teacher
RISALA MARY LAIRD
“It takes courage to keep our creativity alive,
but it’s worth it because it will keep us alive.”
So says Risala Mary Laird, an artist, letterpress-book printer, and spiritual teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area during our deep conversation on the subject of “creativity.” Risala is not only a vastly creative being, herself, but also an encourager of others’ creativity (including mine).
“Encouraging other people to embrace their own creativity,” she muses. “Isn’t that the whole seed of spirituality? That well doesn’t go empty.”
This intimate exploration between us in the recording below is for you. Slow down, enter a kind of hammock of the mind, and let yourself have the nourishment of whatever bubbles up from this reflecting pool that speaks to and sparks the creative spirit in you.
You can learn more about Risala by going to her website, which features her teaching and printing of fine letterpress books, and the meditations and retreats she leads as a Spiritual Guide in the Inayati Sufi Order, in the lineage of Hazrat Inayat Khan.
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“The Journey of Creativity”
A CONVERSATION ON CREATIVITY
with Spiritual Director, Writer, and Artist
COLETTE LAFIA
“I think what matters is who you become, as you are willing to take the journey of creativity.” — Colette Lafia
Colette Lafia is a spiritual director whom I first encountered at a one-day retreat she led. Over the years, her depth, wisdom, approachability, warmth, humility, and sincerity of spiritual devotion have made a lasting impression on me.
Colette also brings in the creative side through painting and writing. She holds a BA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University, where she started a small magazine called If Poetry. Her books include Comfort & Joy: Simple Ways to Care for Ourselves and Others, and Seeking Surrender: How My Friendship with a Trappist Monk Taught Me to Trust and Embrace Life.
When I received her newsletter about her own experience of the connection between creativity and the spirit, I asked her to have a deep conversation with me on that subject. Graciously, she wrote back, “I would greatly enjoy and appreciate being interviewed by you. Let’s make that happen.” And so we did.
Through this spiritual approach to writing, as we explored in our conversation, authentic writing is bound to emerge. Here are a few quotes from Colette that came out of our rich conversation. (The full experience is available to you when you listen to the audio, below.)
“We’re the ones who can say, ‘This is important. This matters. This makes me my true self, my full self. The self God has created and wants me to be.’”
“I found that judgment, or criticism, or ‘it doesn’t make money’ – those have all been painful traps within me, and even closed me down for quite a while in my creative journey. And finally I came to a point where I was like, ‘Just claim it! Claim it as part of just being.’”
“Where one orients, or where one positions oneself, where one places oneself in relation to these things — writing, painting, prayer — is really the heart of it. The kernel.”
“It takes courage, commitment, and shifting how we’re seeing ourselves in relationship to our creative life. Do we see it as a journey? Roads and curiosities and seasons and weather – or do we just see it as a place, where I just arrive?”
“It’s who you meet in the writing. And who you’re invited to be meeting, in the writing of your book. What is it that writing this book wants to teach you and tell you about what it means to be you on your journey, at this time in your life?”
“Through what I create, I just want to claim my voice and my experience. And the person that God has created me to be, and that God knows me to be, already – that I am. I want to live that person. I want to know her, as much as I can.”
“How healing creativity is!”
Listening to this deep and potent conversation will likely bring you to a kinder, more courageous, renewed relationship to your creativity. It did so for me! I came away from our conversation glowing with an enlivened spirit, as if an actual transformation had taken place. What she said echoes much of what I say about creating, but more directly spiritually, about how creativity brings us into direct relationship with the divine. My creative engagement with my own writing has been blessed by the fruits of what she made known to me.
You can learn more about Colette Lafia by going to her website, where you can also buy her books, Comfort & Joy: Simple Ways to Care for Ourselves and Others, and Seeking Surrender: How My Friendship with a Trappist Monk Taught Me to Trust and Embrace Life.
May you receive as much from this conversation with Colette as I did.
These conversations illustrate something I've come to deeply believe:
that creativity flourishes
in the space of authentic dialogue —
with others and with yourself.
When we have someone truly listening to us as we explore what wants to emerge through our creative work, something magical happens — we discover things we didn't know we knew. This is much of what happens when writers and I work together: we create a space of deep conversation where your book can reveal itself to you.
If you'd like to explore what wants to be written through this kind of supportive dialogue, I invite you to experience a complimentary Gift Session with me. You can also learn more about my approach on my Work with Me page.
May your creative journey be blessed
with the kind of deep listening
that allows your truest work to emerge.
Find out more about deep listening and its relationship to creativity.
You also might enjoy the Creative Process page.
