Writing and Faith: Summaries from Charlotte’s Guest Appearances on the Creative and Free Podcast
To promote The Great Belonging around the time it was published in November 2020, I was on several podcasts to discuss the book, spiritual direction, and all sorts of other topics. I was honored to be a guest on three episodes of the Creative and Free podcast with Christina Hubbard. Below are summaries from two of the three episodes we recorded. I want to share the summaries here because we discussed many aspects related to writing and faith. Many thanks to Lyida Estes for her work summarizing these podcast episodes for Our Faith in Writing. You can also find more information about the divine drawing exercise I shared on Creative and Free here.
Part One
Christina Hubbard started this series of three podcast episodes by asking me about who I am and what my life looks like. I have lived in Alabama my whole life, from growing up in Montgomery to attending college at Birmingham Southern College to settling my family down in a suburb outside of the city. I have an 19-year-old daughter who is a freshman in college. She’s also a writer and a literary translator. I have a 17-year-old son who is a junior in high school and plays basketball.
When asked about my realization of being a writer, I began with sharing my history of being a dancer. I grew up studying classical ballet, so that was my creative outlet until college when I had to stop due to a back injury. This led me to wander creatively for a while. Although I had always enjoyed writing and my English and literature classes, I never considered myself a writer. In 2011, I had my second bipolar manic episode. This is when my therapist told me I had to write everyday to heal. I think she knew I was a writer before I did. I finally accepted that if you write, you're a writer. Although I regret not writing sooner, I had to have my particular journey to write the things I have written.
Christina then asked me about the connection between my writing and my spiritual direction. I explained how my writing is very much like prayer. When I am writing, I am praying and listening and asking questions, which is the same thing I do as a Spiritual Director. This led to us discussing what it’s like to be a spiritual director. I have noticed that I am more aware of God around me and in the world, hearing how others feel about God and how they notice God in their lives and their creative work helps me notice God in my life, too. I shared about how powerful it is to see what is happening in my clients’ lives before they know what is happening. I can see that God is working in a way that they cannot always see from their point of view. We also talked about my definition of spiritual direction which is this: I see spiritual directors as people who make space for others to listen to God and notice how God is present in their lives, creative work, and the world around them.
Finally, we talked about my first book, The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. I talked about how I decided to write a book on loneliness when I realized that I have struggled with loneliness my whole life and how there was not an answer to it, hence why I did not write a “10 steps to belonging book.” An acquisitions editor for a Christian publisher once told me, “we do not know what to do with you” when discussing a book proposal for a different book that hasn’t been published yet. While he did not mean it in a harsh way, it was a reminder for me that I didn't fit into the spaces that I really wanted to fit into at the time. I was a Christian and a writer, but it seemed like Christian publishing didn’t have any room for me.
I wanted others to know that they aren't alone in their loneliness. I also wanted to start a conversation around loneliness in order to take power from it. Christina complimented my vulnerability and how I talked about vulnerability in terms of privilege. I embraced a more vulnerable way of life when I had my first bipolar manic episode that landed me in the psychiatric hospital. Everyone knew it I was in an inpatient psychiatric facility, and I had two choices: I could pretend it was not happening or I could be honest about what I was experiencing and hope others who relate will find the strength to get help or just start conversations around this topic. In regards to seeing it as a privilege, in my position, I can be vulnerable about having a mental illness or writing about things that make others uncomfortable. My income does not depend on if I get another book deal, and I don’t have a boss or a job that needs me to be quiet about these things. I have a family that accepts me and my vulnerability so I use my privilege to try to help others.
We ended this episode by talking about grief and how gratitude is more prevalent than grief. I believe through lament and grief, gratitude arises.
Part Two
In the second episode of my guest appearance on the Creative and Free podcast, Christina and I continued where we left off in the last episode, talking about grief. The pandemic has massively resulted in loss, whether it is the loss of a normal advent, jobs, or people we love.
It is important to be honest and stop pretending that these things are not real. I told Christina, “I have hope in what is coming, what I know is real.” She then asked me what brings me joy. Of course, my family brings me joy and watching my teenagers become who they are becoming. Books also bring me joy. I became a reader late in life, so I feel as though I have missed out on so much reading and now I want to read everything. Having books physically around me brings me joy, too.
With the pandemic I have also found joy in my place. My place-attachment has grown so much stronger with the pandemic as I take multiple walks a day and make up narratives about my neighbors. My husband and I literally make up stories about the people we see out and about. Who knew how fun that could be? I also find peace in knowing that my friends are in this with me. I can text them to complain or rejoice in things worthy of celebration, and I know they are always there for me.
Christina and I also talked about the loneliness that is often present in a writer’s life. When Christina asked what advice I would give to those struggling with loneliness in the arts, I aimed my response at Christians, as this is how I deal with the loneliness in my occupation. I talked about the importance of moving deeper into our loneliness in ways that help us connect to God. We have to be vulnerable, reach out to others, and be honest about our struggles.
There is a space in our creative lives that solely belongs to God. We have to accept that no one will fully understand this space except for God. God knows me, my loneliness, and my creativity better than I do, and this thought helps me feel connected to myself and God and takes some of the pressure away from needing people to understand me. When we accept that this space is inhabited by God, it is a freeing feeling. We don’t have as much of that longing for people to understand this part of us. This advice relates to those who do not consider themselves creators as well, for example bakers, they have this piece of them that only God knows that creativity. Creativity comes in so many shapes and sizes, which is really beautiful.
Christina asked me read a chapter from The Great Belonging about visual arts titled “Portraits of Loneliness.” We then talked about how people have received the book so far. I told her I’ve had a surprising amount of men who bought and reached out to appreciate the book, both surprising because it is written from a female view and also the social idea that men should not be vulnerable. I have also had several people who do not practice the same faith as me tell me they appreciate the book, which is a huge compliment to me. It’s wonderful to know that The Great Belonging can reach and benefit readers from many different demographics. It helps me know that I wrote the book I set out to write.
Many thanks to Christina for having me on the Creative and Free podcast! You can find more information about the divine drawing exercise I shared in another Creative and Free episode here.
And, thank you to Lydia Estes for summarizing the podcast episodes for us to share here on Our Faith in Writing.
Charlotte Donlon helps her readers and clients notice how they belong to themselves, others, God, and the world. Charlotte is a writer, a spiritual director for writers, and the founder of Spiritual Direction for Writers™ and Parenting with Art™. She is also the founder and host of the Our Faith in Writing podcast and website. Her essays have appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Seattle Pacific University where she studied creative nonfiction with Paula Huston and Lauren F. Winner. She holds a certificate in spiritual direction from Selah Center for Spiritual Formation. Her first book is The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. To receive Charlotte’s latest updates, news, announcements, and other good things, subscribe to her email newsletter.