Finding Time To Be Alone

The Importance of Being Alone

            When I awaken early in the morning before sunrise, I am groggy and sluggish.  I make my coffee and begin writing thoughts in my journal.  I make out a daily prayer list and what I hope for each of these loved ones.  I search the Psalms for praises and meditate on those songs of ascents and love.  I reflect upon yesterday’s activities, lessons, and understandings of other people.  I am alone with the I Am.  This is the beginning of a wonderful day.

            How do I know?  Because I have carved out time to be on my own little island.  This refreshing paints my day.  The Creator stirs in me what I should write, paint, or draw. He directs my steps. Sometimes my creativity is brought forth in a meal to share with others.  Mostly, I bask in the presence of the Creator knowing He will lead me.

            Even drawing requires great meditation, quietness, and focus.  I must close out worries of the day and open my mind to see in a new way.  I don’t draw what my mind sees, but I seek to see through my eyes a new dimension or wonder.  If I am drawing the simplicity of a seashell, I find the memory of the sunset in its color.  I discover the complicated entry to the inner shell.  It is winding and deep, and  I observe I cannot see to the inner most part of the shell.  I relate with the shell closely.  Others cannot see my most intimate thoughts, but I know God can because He created the seashell and me.  Drawing is a very spiritual activity that takes time and aloneness.

            Today I realize how we are so busy in our contemporary lives that we stress or feel guilt about stopping, meditating, taking time to just be with ourselves.  I think this is why I love coming to the island each winter.  I am on an island with others who respect my island boundary.  They too have come for a respite in the sun, a time of meditation opened by the view of the vast seascape.  Folks are friendly but honor each other’s time alone when walking the beach or in the mangrove forest.  It is a time of rejuvenation and an awareness of all that is within. I watch as others stare into the endless sea for hours at a time.  I see the openness of the waves and understand I am a part of those great teal waters.  I hear the patterns of the waves and watch the sandpipers weave back and forth dodging each new curl of the ocean.  I become the sandpiper dodging business, responsibilities, and hardships.  I  weave with nature like a giant tapestry. I am at peace and know that God’s love endures forever.

            Each of us need an island experience of refreshing.  Perhaps it is meditating on beautiful photos of nature, reading a stirring poem, singing a song in our heart, creating a painting or scrapbook page,or writing a song or message.  I learn each winter how important it is to seek alone time to renew my mind and spirit. 

            Would you share your “island” experience and help others find quietness in this over processed world of technology, demands, and expectations?  I would love to hear how others find their time alone each day.

The Influence of Light

Today I have been meditating on light.  I am realizing how light influences my thinking.  Since I was a small child in Florida, I loved watching the beacon of the sun turn the sea into a glittering mass.  The light created fresh, new beauty. By watching the light each day, I quickly learned that it was the angle of the light that mattered.

Many years later, I am realizing the same truth.  The amount of light outside directly influences my mood, my thinking, and  even my creative energy.  More importantly, I understand how the absence of divine light affects me.  Without a daily dose of scriptural light and understanding, my day becomes askew, obscure, and out of perspective. My lens are blurred. I see things in a shadow, instead of being focused.

I can best explain this when I am painting.  I must have clear daylight in order to create images on the canvas that are in perspective.  The angle of the light in the painting creates understanding to the viewer.  I need correct lighting to paint accurately and see clearly. Without light , a painting would be a dark shapeless mass.

When writing, my slant, my voice, my choice of characters and scenes are created by me, the writer.  My excitement is generated through the dialogue of the character.  My fears are demonstrated in my characters inability to take certain risks. My internal light and understanding propels the story and helps  develop a lasting impression on my reader.

I realize it is the angle of light that changes my focus and perspective each day.  I no longer view life and its problems with shortsighted limitations when I read the Bible.  Instead, the amount of light I take in from meditation and reading God’s word influences my eternal perspective and sheds light in my creative realm.  The amount of light within and without directly relates to my ability to create and live life abundantly.

Perhaps this is why I am eager for each new day that breaks the darkness of the night.  New light brings fresh perspective.  I pray that others might see the grace and light of my communion with God in my writing, painting, and daily living.