Join Carla Orlando for Part Two of Art of Discernment, May 11.
“Above all, trust in the slow work of God/We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay/We should like to skip the intermediate stages/We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new/And yet it is the law of all progress/that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—/and that it may take a very long time.”
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ
Art of Discernment: Voices and Visualization
What should I do?
Our everyday lives involve small and large decisions regarding schooling, career, work, relationships, and life commitments. How do we make choices? Weigh competing values? Discern the right path to take?
This 3-part series will introduce a contemplative, creative approach to spiritual decision-making using tools that incorporate visualization and imagination. Drawn from both Ignatian spirituality and PRH International School of Adult Development, these effective methods of discernment respect the experience and uniqueness of each person, helping them to make good decisions and to become discerning people. Participants learn to clarify the various elements and important influences in making a decision, develop the capacity for stepping back from a situation with greater freedom, and experience a greater sense of satisfaction and peace.
Self-Preparation:
- I identify an important decision or situation that requires my time and attention.
- I bring my discernment from the first session to explore it further with a new approach or something new for practicing the methods and approach of the second session.
Method:
Voices and Visualization
Our second session will include a brief review of the content shared in our first session together as well as an introduction to a second approach, the use of voices and visualization based in Ignatian discernment and Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius. Participants will become aware of and identify the various influences that impact their personal decision and learn to engage with important decisions by using their imaginations. Creative expression, written reflection and speaking and listening in a group help to deepen the process of discernment. All tools in this series are transferable to a personal practice and to other settings and groups.
Materials:
Simple, easy, and inexpensive, meant to encourage freedom and use, located in or around home or found at a local drug store or craft shop. Please do not feel pressured to go to any significant effort or expense to prepare for this program.
- Sketchbook or plain paper, any size
- Notebook or lined paper
- Writing pen
Optional: any creative expression materials found or used at home or used in the Contemplative Creativity series Way to Being: colored pencils or paint, collage or mandala-making materials.
Wednesday, May 11 at 6pm PST, via Zoom. Register here. (If you registered for session one, you don’t need to re-register.)
Catch up with session one resources and video here.
Our Guide:
Carla Orlando, M.Ed, is an educator and spiritual director who teaches discernment, reflective writing, and contemplative prayer at Seattle Pacific University and at the Grunewald Guild for art and spirituality. Carla’s ministry includes Spiritual Direction Services at the Ignatian Spirituality Center, the Spiritual Exercises of Everyday Life retreat, the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, and the Jesuit Restorative Justice Initiative. Carla’s somatic method, training, and supervision with PRH (Personnalite et Relations Humaines) International School of Adult Development is integral to her personal approach and guides her work with university students, faculty, organizational professionals, and people of faith.
Questions? Email Sylvia Sepulveda.
Contemplative Creativity meets the the second Wednesday of each month at 6pm PT, via Zoom.