Flourish Anyway® Spiritual Direction for Creative Souls Roundup Series provides updates at the intersection of spirituality, creativity, and everyday life. Most weeks I share a look back at something from the past, what I’m loving right now (books, essays, art, offerings, and more), and what I’m looking forward to across my writing and work with writers, artists, and other creative souls who want to move toward more goodness while acknowledging the current reality.
If anything I’ve shared is helpful or interesting please tap the heart at the top or bottom of this post. These things matter for those of us who want to keep writing books. More hearts for all!
1. Right Now(ish) >
>>> Our cold mornings are back, so daily fire time has returned. Sitting in silence during those early hours of the day is one of my most favorite things this time of year.
>>> I made a playlist of songs by Alabama artists on Election Day to pass the time and it worked. I love this playlist.
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>>> SDW Stuff
A million gazillion thanks to everyone who’s provided a review of Spiritual Direction for Writers: Everyday Rituals for Your Writing Life.
If you’ve read the SDW book, could you please please please leave a review? I know everyone is exhausted but I’d appreciate any help in this area. Even one or two sentences (or just a rating) on Amazon, Goodreads, and/or Barnes & Noble makes a real difference. You can post the same review on multiple sites.
2. Looking Forward >
>>> Lauren Winner’s new book, The Entangled Word: Keeping Company with Scripture Through the Church Year, is coming out this week. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is thoughtful about the church year or who’d like to be more so. (I’ll share more about this book soon!)
>>> Here’s a lovely poem that we used in yesterday’s Advent Mini Retreat with Wellspring Mother Artist Project for anyone who might want to prepare for and think through how they want to inhabit Advent.
The Risk of Birth
By Madeleine L’Engle
This is no time for a child to be born,
With the earth betrayed by war and hate
And a comet slashing the sky to warn
That time runs out and the sun burns late.
That was no time for a child to be born,
In a land in the crushing grip of Rome;
Honor and truth were trampled to scorn—
Yet here did the Savior make His home.
When is the time for love to be born?
The inn is full on the planet earth,
And by a comet the sky is torn—
Yet Love still takes the risk of birth.
>>> I am so close to catching up mailing all of the things that need to be mailed. To those of you who are waiting on mail, thanks so much for your patience. I am so bad at mailing the things.
>>> Here are the Co-Writing for Creative Souls Sessions for this week. These sessions are a perk for paid Substack subscribers. Learn more here.
Sunday, November 8: 6-7:15 p.m. CT
Monday, November 9: 7-8:15 a.m. CT
Monday, November 9: noon-1:15 p.m. CT
Tuesday, November 10: 7-8:15 p.m. CT
Wednesday, November 11: 7-8:15 p.m. CT
Friday, November 13: 7-8:15 a.m. CT
Friday, November 13: 3-4:15 p.m. CT
Sunday, November 15: 6-7:15 p.m. CT
3. A Look Back >
>>> During the Advent Mini Retreat yesterday afternoon, everyone did a 20-minute micro solo retreat in the middle of our group mini retreat and here’s what some of the participants shared in the chat when I asked what they noticed and received during the 20-minute retreat:
“Shifting my belief from anxious anticipation to hopeful expectation.”
“I have everything I require, especially if I stop to receive it.”
“I don’t have to solve it all right now. What’s one step I can take?”
“Can I welcome what this advent may want to birth in me”
“Seeking and embracing stillness when it visits.”
“I’d like to reduce the outside noise in my life and spend more time in silence before God.”
“I desire more simplicity and emptiness around me in my daily environment.”
“Rest is possible even in little rich chunks and my ideas can take form and happen even in 20 minutes repeated each week.”
“To choose others in my quiet and hopeful attention.”
“To slow down enough to notice what I can consent to from God.”
“Taking time to behold is different than consuming something.”
“Resting, pausing is possible when I take a moment for it.”
“Connecting with nature creates sanctuary for me.”
How great is that?
>>> I highly recommend very short solo retreats—especially as a practice during the full holiday season. If you want to have a 40-minute solo retreat, try this flow:
10 Minutes: Move your body, walk, stretch, etc.
10 Minutes: Reread a portion of a favorite novel
10 Minutes: Write or journal about your desires and/or goals for the rest of 2026
5 Minutes: Check in with your body. Do you need a bit more movement? A cup of tea? A sandwich?
5 Minutes: Take notes on anything that comes to mind about this mini retreat
Here’s an excerpt from Take More Retreats Volume One about how I usually move through my micro retreats:
I take six deep breaths with a six-count inhale and six-count exhale, read a prayer or poem aloud, and set my timer for 40 minutes. Then I do 10 minutes of reading, writing, walking, and praying. I close with a minute or so of silence and another prayer or poem. If I don’t have 40 minutes for a micro-retreat, I’ll use 20 minutes or 10 minutes to retreat. Ignoring everyone and everything else while giving myself what I need or want in the moment for any amount of time is always a good idea. How soon can you schedule a 40-minute micro solo retreat? Can you have one now? Later today? Tomorrow? If you’re able, start with some of my favorite basic nourishing rhythms: read, write, walk, and pray or meditate for 10 minutes each.
If you try the 40-minute micro solo retreat flow above, let me know how it went!
>>> Also. Let’s normalize taking our coffee for a walk around the block.
And that’s enough for now.
Much love to the creative souls. May we flourish anyway and take some time to nourish ourselves every single day. Thanks so much for being here!
💚 Charlotte
Charlotte Donlon is a writer, spiritual director, creativity coach, and faculty member for Alma College MFA’s spiritual writing pathway. Her writing and work have woven together themes of belonging, art, and soul exploration for more than 25 years. With a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing (2015-2018), a certificate in spiritual direction (2018-2020), and a life coach certification (2026), Charlotte guides writers and other creative souls in developing sustainable and nourishing practices so they can make their art, do their work, and love their people.
A Christian in the Episcopal church who believes the tenets of the Nicene Creed, Charlotte employs a universal framework of belonging and connection in her spiritual direction work. She fosters meaningful, soulful conversations and gatherings that are welcoming to all—regardless of faith tradition or spiritual inclinations.
In 2020, Broadleaf Books published Charlotte’s first book, The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. Here Below Books published Spiritual Direction for Writers: Everyday Rituals for Your Writing Life in 2026. Some volumes of Charlotte’s “Guidebooks for the Soul”—Take More Retreats, The Great Belonging Project, and Belonging Through Art —will also be published in the coming months.
As the founder of several initiatives—including Spiritual Direction for Writers®, Parenting with Art®, Belonging Through Art™, and Spiritual Direction for Creative Souls™—Charlotte has established herself as a thought leader and an authentic presence at the intersection of creativity and spirituality. Her essays have been featured in publications such as The Washington Post, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, and The Millions, among others. A new essay about art conservation, Joan Mitchell, and mystery is forthcoming with Image journal.
For those interested in staying updated on Charlotte’s latest work, news, and insights, subscribe to her Substack Weekly Roundup Series and visit Flourish Anyway®, Charlotte’s online hub for all of her writing, spiritual direction, small press, gatherings, and other offerings.
Here’s a full list of Charlotte’s email offerings: