There is goodness all around, even when the concept is subjective. Goodness is the dandelion growing out of a cracked sidewalk. Goodness is the taste of black coffee in the morning. It’s a stormy day that keeps you inside (or not, if you love dancing in the rain). It’s that thing that brings you to peace, joy, wonder, and truth.
Rachel Marie Kang, author of Let There Be Art, reminds us of the truth of goodness and calls us to look for it in the mundane, in the plain.
“The truth is that goodness surrounds us to the point that we should be astounded. The problem isn’t that we are short of goodness, it’s that we do not know how to see it hiding in plain sight. Goodness is in all the moments you never thought to note as noteworthy; it’s in the memories that saved themselves into your soul.”
In Let There Be Art, Rachel pours out her soul, inviting all to come and create, regardless of skill or talent. Creation, in and of itself, is good, and Rachel reminds us of that truth.
Let There Be Art is on sale for $12.59—get and gift it while you can.
Reads to ruminate on.
Contributors of The Fallow House blog are commemorating the chapters of Let There Be Art by sharing the unique and individualized way these chapters call them out to create.
Let There Be Connection by Sarah Southern
On social media as a space that matters.Let There Be Home by Chantal Alison-Konteh
On the irrevocable meaning of home.Let There Be Remembrance by Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young
On art as a way of navigating grief.Let There Be Movement by Jennifer Ji-Hye Ko
On movement of the body and soul.
Listen for your morning.
Listen to Rachel Marie Kang with Stephen Roach of the Makers & Mystics podcast for a conversation on restoration for the heart of the artist. Rachel and Stephen discuss creating in the space between life and death and joy and grief, and how creativity can serve as a bridge between the two poles.
Listen here to learn how and why you can create in the space between joy and grief.
Bright Wings poetry contest.
We’re excited to share that submissions are open for the third annual Bright Wings poetry contest in partnership with Makers & Mystics and Ekstasis Magazine. We believe in the power of poetry to move the spirit and shake the world. With that, we’re inviting all to submit.
Panel judges for this year’s contest are:
Deadline for Entry: November, 25th, 2022
Entry Fee: $20 for up to three poems
Winner will receive a $500 honorarium, read the winning poem on an episode of the Makers & Mystics podcast and have the poem featured in an issue of Ekstasis Magazine. Second and third prize winners will be featured on Makers & Mystics and Ekstasis Instagram stories and newsletter.
The goodness in grief.
In the Disney+ miniseries, WandaVision, Vision, a sentient hero, says something so profound about grief that we, too, may think, feel, and see, but not quite know how to vocalize ourselves: “What is grief but love persevering?”
Kristin Vanderlip says the same in and through her new work, Rest: A Journal for Lament. In this thoughtfully designed grief journal that combines the therapeutic benefits of writing with the sacred, spiritual practice of lament, Kristin invites us to process our grief, hurts, and laments—our love for the things and those who we’ve lost. Kristin writes, “This is where journaling your laments can help…can help you enter the depths of your experiences during the darkest nights. You can process your pain honestly in a safe place and discover that healing and rest are possible.”
The goodness in grief is that it reminds us that we once loved, we once cared, we once held that person or that thing or that tradition in our hearts. Kristin Vanderlip’s Rest: A Journal for Lament will help you do just that.
Circling the sacredness of silence.
Editor and writer Stephanie Duncan Smith writes about her time at a Madeleine L'Engle writers retreat in Connecticut. There, she discovered a prayer labyrinth.
She writes of goodness and our need for quiet, for silence from the outside world and outside noise. In our busy world, we steadily go, with no signs of stopping, at least until our bodies tell us to. When we are still, we feel the guilt of unproductiveness. How can we teach ourselves to unlearn this lie?
Stephanie writes, “But I don’t think a circle of quiet is meant to be experienced only in the most perfect conditions. Perhaps we can give ourselves permission to get out by way of a short lunch break walk, drinking our coffee and doing nothing else (a radical act these days), reading or journaling before bed, whatever you know is needed.”
Stephanie reminds us of the age-old saying: Silence is golden. Yes, indeed. Stillness is needed. Quiet is good.
Keep in touch with Stephanie for more of her life-giving words.
Norah’s Marigold Butter
The best part of the winter weather that’s slowly ushering in is the food we get to eat. Morning toast, soup, roasted vegetables, dinner rolls, cornbread—these are staples around the table during the cooler, darker months.
Christine Marie Bailey of The Kindred Farm, a sustainable farm in Santa Fe, Tennessee, shares a recipe for Marigold Butter, created by her eight-year-old daughter, Norah. It only takes a little imagination and ingenuity to create goodness, and it seems it’s always children who lead the way in this…
Christine is the author of The Kindred Life, which she describes as “part memoir, part inspiration guide.” It is a book that beckons us into connecting with not only each other, but with the world around us.
Cultivate your creativity with a calendar.
We sometimes need that push or prompt to put our hands to the plow. The calendar below offers an array of days to choose from to write, read, bake, photograph—to create. Sometimes, walking this creativity journey with hands to hold is needed, so invite a friend to imagine and create with.
To download, press and hold down on the calendar. Save to phone.
We want to hear from you.
Tell us—how are you making the most of this shapeshifting season we call fall?