Glimmering Landscape Time: Spacious Spiritual Practices for Disorienting Times
Words are rearranged from “The Moon Ground” by James Dickey. The original poem was printed in a special issue of Life Magazine on July 4, 1969, leading up to the flight of Apollo 11.
How do I hold this ___________?
Fill in the blank: chaos / obscurity / grief / disorientation / restlessness / dark night of the soul…
It is difficult to hold obscurity with kindness.
We are living in a collective moment that asks us to grow our capacity to stabilize in the midst of uncertainty. When there are no answers and our illusions of control and security begin to loosen, how do we return to the present moment, even briefly, to get our bearings?
While there are no formulas, spiritual practices are the most nourishing way I know to return to the home within me that I sometimes lose touch with.
Practices are prisms that make the invisible visible. They support us in connecting with our direct spiritual experience.
The posture I encourage is expectancy, without expectations.
Being present is the practice, even when nothing “profound” happens.
A Spacious Found Poetry Practice
You’ll need: an old book or magazine, a surface to work on, and scissors (optional).
Steps:
Cut out words (or tear them out) and lay them in front of you.
Sort them slowly—making small piles if you want (resonant, resistant, neutral).
When you’re ready, connect with your senses. Breathe.
Play with the words you’ve gathered. Are there words that seem drawn to each other?
Rearrange words into a question, a prayer, a wish, or a line of wisdom to hold you here, today.
Read your borrowed words aloud. How does the piece as a whole land in your body?
Feel into any shifts you’d like to make.
Reflection prompts:
Which words stir resonance within?
Which words evoke resistance?
Is there one word or phrase that shimmers?
What is the simplest true sentence I can make from these words?
A found poem (read slowly):
From my heart, I say, I think something
You look as though
You know me, though the world we came from is
glimmering landscape
Time.
At being here: we must look
We must look for it: the stones are going to tell us
Not the why but the how of all things
We are here to do one
Thing only.
A Simple Felt-Sense Practice
Here’s a three-minute invitation to presence. Breathe with this if you want to. If it stirs something, listen for your felt sense of it.
Let it be unclear at first. Maybe a felt sense will arise today. Maybe the memory of this will return when it’s time.
“Do not despise the shallows”
I took this video at the shoreline on Vashon-Maury Island.
Listening With Images, A Visio Divina Practice
Clear a space and breathe for a moment or two. Gaze at the collage at the top of this post and listen for what it stirs in you.
Choose 1–2 questions that call to you.
What do you notice?
Is there resonance? Resistance?
Does the image evoke a feeling or sensation?
Is there a word or phrase that shimmers?
Is there anything here that feels synchronous with other happenings in your life right now?
Would you like to use this image as a journal prompt—or explore it with a friend in conversation?
Creating wisdom collages is one of the primary ways I engage with my direct spiritual experience. The image at the top of this post arose from my most recent practice time. Creative expression opens my heart to deep listening beyond the thinking center. You’ll find a step-by-step guide to create wisdom collages here.
A Quick Word From Kirsten…
These reflections and practices are written by a human artist and spiritual director. They are joyfully and freely given.
If this article nourished you, here are two small ways to help keep the work going:
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More on the Soulspace Blog
Moving Through a Dark Night of the Soul
And here it is, unbound (another found poem!)
