Cultivate
As I think back on this year, I am grateful I chose the word cultivate. It inspired me in ways that surprised me all year long.
I chose this word because I wanted to grow. I wanted to nurture in myself skills and interests that were either lying fallow or just not getting enough attention.
These are the places that benefitted from a year of cultivation:
1. Art and creativity - I took on a special project that began a month ahead and stayed with me through the whole year. I created a Liturgical Art Journal that followed the church year, from Advent through Christ the King Sunday. (Roughly November-November) I created a visual depiction of what inspired me in worship. I tried to let myself be open to whatever moved me that day: hymns, Scripture, the sermon, or just the overall mood. It was a challenge to put on the paper, mostly through the medium of collage, what I saw in my mind or felt in my being. It is a journal I will treasure and already have used it for my own devotional moments. Here are a few pictures.
As I think back on this year, I am grateful I chose the word cultivate. It inspired me in ways that surprised me all year long.
I chose this word because I wanted to grow. I wanted to nurture in myself skills and interests that were either lying fallow or just not getting enough attention.
These are the places that benefitted from a year of cultivation:
1. Art and creativity - I took on a special project that began a month ahead and stayed with me through the whole year. I created a Liturgical Art Journal that followed the church year, from Advent through Christ the King Sunday. (Roughly November-November) I created a visual depiction of what inspired me in worship. I tried to let myself be open to whatever moved me that day: hymns, Scripture, the sermon, or just the overall mood. It was a challenge to put on the paper, mostly through the medium of collage, what I saw in my mind or felt in my being. It is a journal I will treasure and already have used it for my own devotional moments. Here are a few pictures.
I attended two different retreats that helped me grow in my artistic skills. The first was in February at Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. My second retreat was at the St. John's Abbey in
Minnesota over the summer.
What I learned from all of these artistic endeavors is that the more I create art just for the sake of pure creating, the more I am creative in all parts of my life.
2. Honoring the sacredness of creation - I attempted to be more "zen" about my yard. Gardening has been a
frustration for me. It feels like a battle every growing season. This year I tried to embrace the different parts of the growing season and see the miracles that are unique to each month. I planted a small vegetable garden. This was fun even though I had limited success yielding few tomatoes and peppers. It proved to me that my yard is just too shady for these plants. As for my flower gardens, I limited the use of chemicals and tried to care for them as naturally as possible. I became more mindful of the connectedness of all life. I also began using the word soil instead of dirt. Soil is its own miraculous living organism.
I know I will continue this journey again in the spring. I highly recommend reading the book The Seasons on Henry's Farm by Terra Brockman if you are at all interested in mindful eating and food production. It has changed the way I grocery shop and now more fully support local and organic farmers.
3. Professional Leadership - This was an area I didn't expect to be affected by my word of the year or even anticipate working on improving. Beginning in June, I participated in a six month leadership development course
through my Chicago area denominational organization. This is an example of the importance of sharing your word of the year with other people. I had been asked to participate in this and said no - turned them down flat. Then when the church leadership came back and asked me again, a friend who knew of my word "cultivate" told me maybe this was a way to live out that word in another way. That advice helped me see myself and this leadership course in a new way. Of course I should say yes! I am looking to grow.
I am so grateful I did. The ideas and techniques I learned through the facilitators and my colleagues have
changed the way I work and how I live out my role as a leader in the church. I have begun mentoring a few leaders one-on-one. This has been very rewarding for everyone. In every conversation I discover more about myself and how I can do better. I also have changed how I interact with the leaders in my area of ministry at Faith. I am not sure they have noticed but I do not call them volunteers anymore. They are leaders. Each one in their own way are helping children and adults have a deeper relationship with God and others. That is leadership!
I knew the word cultivate had connotations of growing and nurturing. That is why I chose it. All year it brought to mind for me that I am like the flowers and plants in my yard. Sometimes my own personal growth feels like a battle. I am pushing against rocks and weeds in the soil trying to find the nutrients and sunlight I need. I am grateful for my own gardeners, those to help prune and tend to me so that I will grow and blossom. Just like one of those time-lapse videos of a plant growing and blooming, my year of cultivation feels like that. It has been a year full of slow steps moving forward but as I look back I see all the beauty and growth that has come from the nurture I have received.
~Pam
Minnesota over the summer.
What I learned from all of these artistic endeavors is that the more I create art just for the sake of pure creating, the more I am creative in all parts of my life.
2. Honoring the sacredness of creation - I attempted to be more "zen" about my yard. Gardening has been a
frustration for me. It feels like a battle every growing season. This year I tried to embrace the different parts of the growing season and see the miracles that are unique to each month. I planted a small vegetable garden. This was fun even though I had limited success yielding few tomatoes and peppers. It proved to me that my yard is just too shady for these plants. As for my flower gardens, I limited the use of chemicals and tried to care for them as naturally as possible. I became more mindful of the connectedness of all life. I also began using the word soil instead of dirt. Soil is its own miraculous living organism.
I know I will continue this journey again in the spring. I highly recommend reading the book The Seasons on Henry's Farm by Terra Brockman if you are at all interested in mindful eating and food production. It has changed the way I grocery shop and now more fully support local and organic farmers.
3. Professional Leadership - This was an area I didn't expect to be affected by my word of the year or even anticipate working on improving. Beginning in June, I participated in a six month leadership development course
through my Chicago area denominational organization. This is an example of the importance of sharing your word of the year with other people. I had been asked to participate in this and said no - turned them down flat. Then when the church leadership came back and asked me again, a friend who knew of my word "cultivate" told me maybe this was a way to live out that word in another way. That advice helped me see myself and this leadership course in a new way. Of course I should say yes! I am looking to grow.
I am so grateful I did. The ideas and techniques I learned through the facilitators and my colleagues have
changed the way I work and how I live out my role as a leader in the church. I have begun mentoring a few leaders one-on-one. This has been very rewarding for everyone. In every conversation I discover more about myself and how I can do better. I also have changed how I interact with the leaders in my area of ministry at Faith. I am not sure they have noticed but I do not call them volunteers anymore. They are leaders. Each one in their own way are helping children and adults have a deeper relationship with God and others. That is leadership!
I knew the word cultivate had connotations of growing and nurturing. That is why I chose it. All year it brought to mind for me that I am like the flowers and plants in my yard. Sometimes my own personal growth feels like a battle. I am pushing against rocks and weeds in the soil trying to find the nutrients and sunlight I need. I am grateful for my own gardeners, those to help prune and tend to me so that I will grow and blossom. Just like one of those time-lapse videos of a plant growing and blooming, my year of cultivation feels like that. It has been a year full of slow steps moving forward but as I look back I see all the beauty and growth that has come from the nurture I have received.
~Pam
