Sacred Creative Space for the Muse
Several years ago when I was doing one of my annual studio clean-outs and clean-ups, I decided to try using some feng shui principles I’d learned.
So I put purple in one corner, red in another, hung a bell between my cones of yarn, and made sure my fountain was in a good location to keep the energy moving—my creative energy and the energy of abundance—for my weaving business.
Did my efforts produce any change? I don’t remember. If they did, I didn’t make note of it. Like a diet we try for a while and then abandon when we don’t drop 20 pounds in three weeks, whatever happened wasn’t enough to keep me mindful about maintaining order and energy flow.
Now I need to clean my studio again, always, every day. Between paperwork, weaving yarns, books on writing, dreams, oracles and myths, packing to go away to teach and consult, and unpacking when I return, my studio manages to be in a steady state of chaos.
But while talking to a friend the other day, I realized I wanted to re-instill a sense of the sacred in my space, to both honor the work I do there and to remind me of my purpose. Since I am always urging other creative women to do this, I need to practice what I preach.
Owl figures, fairies, candles, crystals, and inspiring images sit on shelves, windowsills, and desktop, and even hang on my limited wall space. But too often my work, my materials, and my piles of books surround or bury them. (Put a writer in a cave and in no time bats and stalagmites will give way to piles of books!)
If I can’t see the small sculptures of owls that remind me of my dream work with people and of my own inner wisdom, then I can too easily forget the sacred dimension of my work and the why I do what I do when I am caught up in the what and how.
I need to clean my space. I need to create small altars for the four directions—east, south, west and north—to honor inspiration, will, creativity, and manifestation, to honor my words, my visions, my passions, and my efforts. And to create sacred space for the Muse.
I need to create sacred space for sacred work.
How about you? Does your space honor the sacred dimension of your creativity?