Hi, Friends! What a long time it’s been! You may or may not know that I have just finished almost six years serving as the canon for communications in the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland. That call, which brought me to the holy and thin place that is Baltimore, consisted of the best years of my professional life thus far. But life is filled with transition and change, and, as a former colleague of mine said to me before we were both moved on from our positions in the diocese, “A call is just that.”
I’m sure you’ve experienced the mystery if you’ve ever felt the whisper of the holy leading you down paths you might never have imagined. “God’s in his kingdom and all’s right with the world” (Anne of Green Gables), for a season – a call lasts for as long as it lasts until we’re led down another unexpected path.
What became apparent to me on what turned out to be a months-long journey down the yellow brick road is that God was teaching that, like Dorothy, I had everything I needed to come home to myself. Every experience I’ve had, everything I stretched to learn, and all of the inner spiritual work I’ve done, have come together to fill my bag of supplies. And I’m finally brave enough, smart enough, and loving enough of myself to come home to my purpose.
Although I’ve got miles to go I, Carrie Stepp Graves, am coming home to Creative Monastery, the place where all of my gifts, skills, passions, and talents (and yours) can come to rest, be renewed, be gathered, and packaged, nourished, shared with each other, and sent out into the world as offerings. We are all called to awaken the divine within ourselves. We go deep to to seek and then act, moving as mystics with a monstery in the world.
After some time in a serious tornado and much journeying down the yellow brick road to learning to love and value myself, I finally have a brain, a heart, and courage! I’m glad to be with you here in this place, and I hope we will build a rich community.
So, what does this all mean? It means that I am now working for myself as a life coach focusing on spiritual practices to achieve balance and purpose and as a communications consultant and freelancer for faith-inspired churches, ministries, and non-profits.
- Does my website say that? No.
- Is it clear what Creative Monastery is? No.
- Do you understand how all of my gifts, skills, and passions fit under the umbrella of holistic communication? Probably not.
- Do I? Not sure yet. But I have an idea, a stronger idea than ever before. And I called to see it be born.
- Do you know what I can do for you and your organization? I imagine you don’t
- Do I? Why, yes, I believe I do.
And the Spirit is continually sending me synchronicities and “Holy Spirit moments” that relate to my packaging my new identity. I currently have a full plate of communications work for entities within The Episcopal Church, the Haden Institute, educational groups and more. And I’m working on becoming a Board Certified Life Coach. I will take the exam soon. Not only does that offer me opportunities to do executive coaching, but also for me to do more with dream work, spiritual practices, music, and preaching.
All of these things fall under my vocations of communication – communication with the divine to go deep and discern; communication (including active listening) with love to each other and in our communities and workplaces; telling our stories and those of the needs of our neighbors for healing and transformation. Discernment, inner work, civil discourse, and relationship building create a better world not only through their energetic existence but through our use of creativity and technology to share their power. It is a beautiful miracle. My plate has been so full it’s even been hard to plan time to get my home office organized, but I’m doing it. I will lead the balanced, fulfilling life I believe in and that my logo, enivisioned and drawn by hand a decade ago, expresses.
