Devotion

One piece of wisdom that came my way a while ago was, “what you practice is what you have”. When I heard that statement I knew that there was deep truth in it. So often I can find myself taking an action in order to have something. While there is nothing wrong with this, it can have me living in the mental world of strategy and control, where my every move is calculated to produce a result, and my acquiring mind is spinning with different strategies as it grasps at different possibilities that it wants for itself. Though it feels good to move forward or have more of what I want, it can be limiting as a practice because it results in a habit of always looking for the next thing, which robs me of the enjoyment, satisfaction, and joy that comes with appreciating and valuing the abundance that life is offering me.

An alternative practice that I cultivate is one of Devotion. To me this means that my action is not merely a means to an end, but a devotion to something that has great meaning and value in and of itself. Devotion is surrender into a practice or quality that is not dependent on outer circumstances but instead buoyed by inner faith, steadfastness, and surrender to something greater than myself. As I immerse myself in my practice of devotion, I am rewarded with a deeper sense of purpose, meaningfulness in my life, delight, surprise, a sense of connection, and peace. I also lessen the suffering that the grip of my acquiring and controlling mind can have on my well-being.

So how do we cultivate devotion? This year I am diving deeply into this question as I am devoting myself to a project to awaken the power of devotion in the lives of others. Momentum is a supportive community container in which participants will devote themselves for an entire year to an art project that is calling them. Why art? One reason is because art is intrinsically valuable for it’s reflection of life, expression, communication of emotion, and creativity. Creating art is a process that can take us on a journey beyond our mental conceptions and opens us to a world of imagination and possibility.

One of our participants will be writing a rock opera. Another will be creating a mosaic of 52 different 12” by 12” pieces of art with fabric and/or mosaic. The possibilities of what you could declare and devote yourself to are endless.

If cultivating devotion and unleashing your inner artist sounds intriguing to you, check out our web page and come to an information meeting the Monday night 2/24. May you allow, discover and release your devotion in a way that inspires and enlivens you!

with love,

Todd.