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Original Essays | April 18, 2013
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Crafting Calm: Projects and Practices for Creativity and Contemplationby Maggie Oman Shannon
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Craft Your Way to Inner Peace In this wild and wired world, it is increasingly difficult to truly relax and find stillness within. Maggie Oman Shannon's Crafting Calm is a DIY guide to peace of mind, offering an abundance of ways you can achieve serenity and satisfaction by living the handmade life. Author Oman Shannon, the spiritual director of a Unity Church, explores crafts and creativity as a lifelong practice with enormous physical, emotional and spiritual benefits. And by knitting love and hope into every stitch, handicrafts help form new friendships and community. From making a desktop shrine or mini-Zen garden, to stringing intention beads and painting personal prayer flags, Crafting Calm is an essential tool for making mindfulness. Synopsis:As our world has become increasingly dependent on technology, and our Western societies have become woefully “Crackberried”— to use the title of a recent documentary on the emotional and social pitfalls of our too-wired ways—an intriguing phenomenon is occurring: There is an increasing amount of interest in returning to some of the simpler arts that were neglected or left behind with the onslaught of technology. Artisans and everyday crafters are finding a renewed satisfaction in making something with their own hands; some are even communicating about the inherent physical- and mental-health benefits found in handwork—and, even more than that, they are framing their handwork as meditation or spiritual practice. In todays sophisticated and pluralistic society, people are more aware than ever that spiritual practice can be defined more expansively—and the popularity of books focusing on alternative spiritual practices demonstrate that readers are hungry for new (or ancient) ways of enhancing their inner lives. In Crafting Calm the author will explore these new forms of creative spiritual practice and the benefits they provide. The format of With Shannon's book will itself be creative, a rich “potpourri approach” that weaves together interviews, historical facts, projects for readers to do themselves, quotations, and suggested resources. Crafting Calm will serve as an inspirational resource guide to a broad assortment of spiritual practices gathered from the global arts-and-crafts communities, as well as from people who dont consider themselves artists but who have adopted creatively expressive forms of spiritual practice. While there have been a few books published focusing on a particular form of creative spiritual practice (Skylight Paths, for example, has published books on beading as a spiritual practice; painting as a spiritual practice; and using clay as a spiritual practice), no one has yet explored the breadth of possibilities for creative spiritual practices contained in Crafting Calm. Synopsis:In this wired, wild world, it is harder than ever to shut out noise and busyness in order to truly calm yourself, but in Crafting Calm, a D.I.Y. guide to peace of mind, you'll find inspiring ideas for how to do exactly that through a wide range of creative exercises. In this book, author Maggie Oman Shannon explores crafts and creativity as a practice with enormous physical, mental, and spiritual benefits. By immersing ourselves in a craft with intention and mindfulness, we can quiet those voices around us and in us—we can enter sacred stillness. Through revealing interviews, personal stories, and forty suggested activities, the author shows how creative processes can become spiritual practices. Whether you're an aspiring artist, longtime craftsperson, or someone who has never set foot in a craft-store (yet!), you'll find something in Crafting Calm to inspire you. Crafts and how-to ideas include contemplation candles, visual journals, prayer shawls, collage mandalas, intention beads, finger labyrinths, personal prayer flags, spiritual toolkits, and tabletop altars. Features inspired craft ideas from luminaries such as Angeles Arrien, Mary Ann Radmcher, Shiloh Sophia McCloud, Sister Marianne Heib, May Ann Brussat, and many more. About the AuthorRev. Maggie Oman Shannon, M.A., is an interfaith minister, spiritual director, workshop and retreat facilitator, and author of five books: Prayers for Healing (Conari Press, 1997); The Way We Pray: Prayer Practices from Around the World (Conari Press, 2001); A String and a Prayer: How to Make and Use Prayer Beads (co-author; Red Wheel/Weiser, 2002); One God, Shared Hope (Red Wheel/Weiser, 2003); and her latest, Prayers for Hope and Comfort (Conari Press, 2008). In 2000, Oman Shannon founded The New Story, a coaching and consulting business focused on helping people create deeper meaning in their lives. The former editor of three national magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post, Oman Shannon also served as Director of Marketing for the Institute of Noetic Sciences. Her writing has appeared in publications including Utne Reader and Beliefnet.com; and her work has been featured in publications ranging from the Miami Herald to Spirituality and Health magazine. She has taught workshops at venues including California Pacific Medical Centers Institute for Health and Healing and Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, NY. In addition to being a certified life coach, Oman Shannon completed the three-year training program of the Spiritual Directors Institute at Mercy Center in Burlingame, California. A graduate of Smith College, Oman Shannon also holds an M.A. degree in Culture and Spirituality from Holy Names University. She is an ordained interfaith minister who graduated from Manhattans One Spirit Interfaith Seminary in 2010. Oman Shannon currently has the honor of serving as Spiritual Director of Unity Spiritual Center of San Francisco. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and seven-year-old daughter. Table of ContentsIntroduction Crafting for Calm Anointing Oils Biblical Herb Garden Spiritual Wisdom Wall Hanging Sacred Bath Salts Tabletop Meditation Fountain Crafting for Clarity Collage Treasure Map Visual Journal Personal Prayer Flag Blessing Basket Spiritual Toolbox Crafting for Comfort Portable Shrine Prayer Shawl Affirmation Blanket Prayer Cards Power Pouch Crafting for Contemplation Prayer Mat Tray Sand Garden Luminarias Rock Cairn Meditation Cushion Crafting for Creation Prayer Painting Intention Beads Inner Wisdom Doll Icon Messages in a Bottle Crafting for Community Talking Stick Prayer Ribbon Weaving Collage Mandala Group Prayer Beads Prayer Arrows Crafting for Connection with Others Thinking-of-You Candle Prayer Pillow Milagros Box Homemade Bread Meditation Prayer Rock Crafting for Connection with Spirit Prayer Outfit Finger Labyrinth Personal Holy Book Tabletop Altar Prayer Pot Conclusion Resource Section Interview Subjects Contributors Acknowledgments About the Author Index [TK] What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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Health and Self-Help » Self-Help » Creativity
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