Tonight, Northaven hosted graphic artist, Karen Blessen as a part of the Second Monday series. Karen is the only graphic artist to ever be awarded a Pulitzer Prize. But one of the things that distinguishes her art is how it is connected to her sense of spirituality.

She talked to the group about “passage meditation,” a kind of meditation where one meditates deeply on a specific “passage” of scripture, literature, art, etc. The idea is to take it in, over the days or repetition, and to allow the passage to speak to you.

But the exercise she gave us that stayed with me had to do with writing with the opposite hand. I first read about this years ago, but it’s been a while since I’ve given it any thought. The theory goes that when we write with our opposite hand, sometimes our usual censor and guard is drawn down, and we can receive creative messages that push our boundaries.

So, I’ve been doing some opposite-hand writing this week. Don’t have anything yet to share with everybody, but it’s a great exercise.

So, today I am grateful for Karen Blessen.

(During this year, my goal is to find something new to be thankful for every single day, and to add that thanksgiving as a blog entry, under the title “My Daily Gratitude.” I started this kick back around Thanksgiving, and it’s already resulted in a favorite new song of mine. The goal of this ongoing spiritual exercise is to see if doing such a thing might inspire even more gratitude within me, and to foster general awareness of life on a deeper level.)