creativity and lent

While researching ideas for our Urban Skye Ash Wednesday Labyrinth, I came across a great idea in New Zealand. Cityside Community has a project going called The Desert Files.

The whole idea is to make a creative product in the medium of your choice, using the period of Lent as your time parameter. You are encouraged to use a prayer practice, and to keep a record of your process as you go along. At Cityside, the culmination is an art exhibit.

I've decided to use their outline and do something similar.

Here are the basic steps they have laid out:

One...Choose one of the last sayings of Jesus from the cross. This will be your theme or starting place for your work. I am going to use The Lord's Prayer as my guide, as Urban Skye is using The Lord's Prayer as our Lenten text this year.

Two...Consider the media of your final project. For me, this will include photography - digital, medium format, Polaroid. Maybe all three. And possibly collage.

Three...Choose a prayer path that you will explore during Lent. They suggest Centering Prayer, Ignatian Visualization, Lectio Divina, or Body Prayer. I decided that this would be a good time for me to actually read Tony Jones' book on Lectio Divina, Divine Intervention: Encountering God Through the Ancient Practice of Lectio Divina, which has been riding around in my Timbuk2bag for most of February.

Four...Choose how you will record your Lenten process. Suggestions: Photos, written journal, sketching, rapid sculpting. The purpose of the recording practice is to help integrate your prayer practice with your reflections on the stimulus, your original theme, and your final creative work. It will come as no surprise to those that know me well that a trusty Moleskine will document my work.

It was interesting to me that they made a point of stating that your process record is part of your completed work. Something I need to keep in mind as I go along.

So, that's my Lenten plan. Make art. Use a prayer practice consistently. Record it all.