JOYOUS LIFE: In the act of CREATION

I AM A JOYOUS PILGRIM (Image #1). Hallelujah Life. Hallelujah Joy. (Art (c)by Hallelujah Truth, aka Ruth Schowalter)

"The way to live a JOYOUS life is to CREATE. In the act of CREATION, we are BEING, MOVING, and DISCOVERING. Living life in this manner is challenging, hence the need to practice doing it with the languorous ease of a cat napping, suspending judgment and working from our dreams!"  

-Hallelujah Truth (December 2011), "Joy Equals Living with Ease of a Cat Napping"

JOYFUL EASE OF A CAT NAPPING 
(Art by Hallelujah Truth, 2009)

Dear fellow Pilgrims, I have been chasing JOY most of my life, as you probably have too! In 2009, I began a focused pilgrimage to experience that JOY and to have more of it. From some where deep in myself Hallelujah erupted and merged with "Ruth Truth," a more didactic and serious person, resulting in HALLELUJAH TRUTH.

In 2009, with her presence I began this blog, "Coffee With Hallelujah," and established for me the high necessity of having FUN and EASE. And....to CREATE what was mine to discover and express. 

I gave birth to my motto for my DAILY CREATIVE PRACTICE: 

If you have time for a cup of coffee (or a hot beverage), you have time to CREATE.   

WHAT IS UNIQUE TO ME? I asked myself. What is mine to create each day that only I can say, draw, paint, dance, and love? It is a question I have cherished and, yes, struggled with in the past 7 years of Hallelujahing every morning! 

In order to sustain my way of CREATIVE BEING based in "the languorous ease of a cat napping," I needed community, a tribe comprised of other JOYOUS PILGRIMS committed to sharing their creative pulse. Those who would appreciate suspending judgment about their work and find PLEASURE in the ACT of making it!

Here on COFFEE WITH HALLELUJAH, the years of blogging have connected me with other SOUL PILGRIMS from around the globe. Then three years ago, I established the Facebook Group, "The Daily Creative Practice," to engage with others seeking to share their creative acts in a warm supportive online community. My FB world is now outrageously populated!!! as of March (2016) close to 1,100 people are members on the DCP. I invite you to join us if you already haven't.

A wonderful reminder of my commitment to JOY came to me at the 2016 New Year's InterPlay Untensive in North Carolina with Tom Henderson and Ginny Going. The word that randomly chose me from words written on pieces of paper being distributed around the room was JOY! Hallelujah JOY!

The photo above shows my word, JOY, beside the spirit animal I chose to support me during 2016. Months have passed since I began this blog post on JOY in January in the first few days of 2016. Upon my return from the InterPlay New Year's Untensive, I confronted challenges in my JOYFUL PILGRIMAGE. They were the usual suspects: health issues that needed to be resolved, relationships that needed healing, and meaningful employment that would be accompanied with a life sustaining wage/salary. At first, I floundered. I did not operate from JOY. We all go through periods of darkness. BIBO (Breathe-in-Breathe-out). 

Slowly, I have eased my way into finding solutions to my challenges. And best of all? Based on nothing, I am making a choice to BE IN ACTION (thanks Artist Conference Network and InterPlay), I am presently practicing unlocking and embodying my JOY using my CREATIVITY. For it is when I am in action that I experience a satisfying way of being on this beautiful Earth.

UNLOCKING AND EMBODYING JOY. I am deep in my spiritual journey and yet I feel so new and renewed. What does it mean to unlock and embody joy? How does one savor grace? How does the making of things connect me to the Mystery I seek? And really? Can having fun bring me in closer connection with the Unknown? --Hallelujah Truth (February 2015), "Unlocking and Embodying Joy: Savoring Grace, Making Things and Having Fun"


That's Coffee with Hallelujah! SOUL BLOG with me. What is your word for 2016? How is it serving you right now?  Are you unlocking and embodying your word?