Creative Works
Rooting
I presented this series as my final project for Unitarian Universal Theology, which I took with Rev. Dr. Sheri Prud’homme in the Spring of 2022.
When I initially proposed this project, I wrote that I wanted to “produce a series of creative writing pieces in conversation with theological writings.” My goal was to engage with the theology we had been studying in a new way that would help me to process the ideas and reflect on my feelings about the pieces.
The final project, Outpourings, emerged as a highly personal suite of poems, prose, and photography profoundly shaped by my reflections on the world and engagement with our Unitarian Universalist and other theological writings. Creating this compilation helped to Root these reactions in my spirit and has continued to shape the way I engage with theological thinking today.
In truth, I started writing these poems before I envisioned their place in the Outpourings compilation. These works emerged as an initial reaction to the suggestion that Roe v. Wade should be overturned in the Spring of 2022; later, I returned to these pieces as responses to Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s theological thinking.
As I often do, I initially turned to writing to process and express my feelings about these events; as such, these poems reflect my raw emotional reactions to the undermining of reproductive justice and the qualifying of women’s value in the world. I often return to these works and see them as having helped to Root my spiritual relationship with feminity and womanhood.
When I proposed Outpourings, I wrote that I had “already begun a creative writing piece in conversation with Cosmology and Divinity as a way to tease out frustration and disagreement I was feeling while reading the piece.” In its final form, what emerged was this short story which engaged with some of Jungerman’s theological assertions and offered my perspective on the act of “meaning making” in spiritual life.
As an avid Fantasy-lover, I felt inspired to set this reflection within the context of a fantastical tale, incorporating my theologies into the plot and setting of the story. The creative aspect of this process helped me to grapple with my reactions and to Root my spiritual and theological understandings of “meaning making” in the context of my ministry.
Quieting
In the Fall of 2022, I took the course Roll for Enlightenment with Sara Elizabeth Dyer-Santa Cruz; this document was submitted to fulfill the “One-Page RPG” project assigned as part of the course.
During this semester, I was having a challenging time with my mental health and the effect that depression was having on my ability to engage in daily activities. I was also struggling to articulate my experiences with depression to myself and my loved ones.
A Day in the Life emerged as a “game” that attempted to recreate these experiences for others in a relatable way through dice rolls, game statistics, and reflections on my struggles with mental health. This format also helped me to conceptualize and accept the real and substantial effects that mental health struggles can have on a person’s daily life.
Through the creation of this RPG, I was able to reflect on my experiences with depression in a way that externalized the processing of these feelings. Through this, I developed a better relationship with my mental health and found a Quieting that has allowed me to continue to process and explore these aspects of my self.
Blooming
I created this wreath as an altar for Transformative Ritual Craft in the Fall of 2023. Inspired by the nature around my apartment and the seasons, I felt called to create an altar that allowed others to reflect on nature's cycles through the depiction of circular seasonal progression.
Everything on this altar, except the twine, was taken from nature in my area. As I collected elements for this project, I felt the need to honor the natural beings by only gathering what I explicitly needed and, where possible, taking things that were no longer living. In the instances where I took from living plants, I ensured that I did not take the flowering bodies of the plant and only gathered a small number of offshoots so as not to harm them significantly.
The bamboo was harvested from the backyard of my apartment building, where it grows in abundance year-round. To create an oval shape, I selected flexible bamboo stalks and soaked them in water to make them more flexible before bending and tying them together.
The plant matter used in this altar was also harvested from my neighborhood. I am fortunate to have a small yard in front of my building where flowers and plants grow most of the year. From this area and a park near my house, I collected the bundles of flowers that adorn this altar. The fall leaves were taken from the street behind my apartment, where an oak tree turns spectacularly in the fall and drops beautiful orange and red leaves on the ground.
Creating and sharing this altar was incredibly fulfilling, and it became a piece that I continued to enjoy even after my class presentation; this wreath hung on the front door of my apartment for many months until it was time to return the elements to nature through composting.
In a literal sense, this altar ritual represented my natural creativity Blooming in the world. This project was a physical manifestation of my theological perspectives and spiritual beliefs and incorporated my love for the environment and the inspiration I draw from the natural world. In my future ministry, I hope to find more opportunities to express my beliefs and ideas in this creative manner.