The season we are in is called the via creativa in universal or creation spirituality. Buds push through and open, soil heaves as it freezes and thaws, and rivers crest their banks. Here in the Northwoods, several times we’ve gone from red flag fire danger to everything is squishy wet in the same day. Some call this resurrection energy as new life emerges from the leaves and flowers that died and composted after summer’s vibrant abundance. The via creativa is spring flowers and green grass, baby bunnies and bird songs, but to get there, the world goes through pains of mud season. It’s a powerful notion that the world is created again and again, and we are invited to participate in that creative process.
During this season, I often walk with the questions of holding on and letting go. What do I need to hold onto that serves to guide and nourish the way, and what am I holding onto that is weighing me down. Northland College has been through six weeks of limbo debating if they will close or transform. I see the exhaustion of this time on the faces of employees and students as they respond to the urgency of creative demands: reaching out for resources, assessing what they can carry into the future, wondering what that means in terms of letting go. This small college is nested within a much larger system of education, which is also going through transformative shifts.
The via creativa reminds us anytime things fall apart or we must begin again, we have to go through the pain of change. We can’t get over it, around it, or avoid it. Creativity is art but it is also therapy. It is new beginnings that come from loss. So how do we know when to hold on or when to let go? One of the greatest hindrances to creativity is fear. When we release fear, something new can emerge. While control can serve us in many situations, often the creative process requires that we relinquish control and create, which is inherently difficult, messy, and novel. In creation spirituality, we know we are in tune with the via creativa when we create in the ways of divine creation: with beauty and for compassion’s sake, with joy and for love’s sake.
In the spirit of the season, may you juggle holding on and letting go while grounded and centered in your values, may what is created bring more balance in the chaos of life, and may you find the support and care from your community that you need to keep from burning out (as Kelsey taught us in April).
Peace be your journey. Rev. Stacy Craig