Planted in an Unlikely Place
I wouldn’t have picked this rocky cliff to plant myself, but I didn’t have much say in where the bird splat me out in a wet slush of poop. At least there was enough soil for me to sprout. The view wasn’t bad either, with rolling hills and a green meadow below.
I would not grow as tall or wide as the trees in the valley. There wasn’t space for that, but I would be strong. Daily winds forced my roots to dig deep and sprawl out like fingers clutching the side of the cliff.
While I didn’t choose this place, I choose it now, willing my roots to grow thick and search for more pockets of dirt between the cracks and crevices of rock. As I grew, visitors arrived: colorful birds perched in my branches, and we sat in amicable silence admiring sunrise and sunset.
The Story Below
While we cannot control all of our circumstances (especially childhood), we can control our attitude and our actions. A client of mine is writing her first book, and God keeps reminding her, “Bloom where you are planted. Stay planted. Small steps.“
It is a gift to journey with her each week, because the truth God is singing over her is the same truth my soul desperately needs.
How often do I dismiss or shirk the reality of my season and space, when God is inviting me deeper? This is the sacred gift spiritual direction offers creatives and writers: an hour set aside to listen, notice, and hold questions with gentle curiosity.
As Sue Monk Kidd wrote in When the Heart Waits: Spiritual Direction for Life’s Sacred Questions:
…the heart of religion was setting up an honest dialogue with the uniqueness of one’s soul and finding a deeply personal relationship with God.
The spiritual formation of writers and creatives is vitally important, because these are often the voices God calls to serve and shape the nations.
It’s why when I read Isaiah 61:1, I keep hearing: Set the creatives free. Set the creatives free. Set the creatives free.
What Spiritual Direction for Creatives Offers
The sacred question I’d love to offer you is this: What would it look like for you to bloom where you are planted?
If the idea of spiritual direction and formation sounds inviting to you, I’d love to companion you and your creative soul as we listen for what God is writing in and through you.
There is no cookie cutter. The journey of spiritual formation as we travel with Jesus is a grand adventure. We don’t always know where we will lay our heads or what waits for us along the way.
An Invitation to Bloom Where You Are
But as someone who embarked on a journey of soul work in 2017, it is deeply rewarding, and the view…well, it’s spectacular, even if a bit windy.
About Deanne Welsh
Deanne Welsh is a writer, coach, and spiritual director with a mission to set writers free. Through Unstoppable Writers, she offers spiritual direction and writing coaching on the calling and craft of walking and writing with God. If you’re a writer or creative longing to bloom where you’re planted, Deanne would love to companion you. Fill out the contact form or DM her on Instagram.