Hallie Waugh on Rejecting Projections and Façades, Beholding Hadestown, Longing for Weirdness, and More: Spiritual Direction for Creative Souls™ Checkup Series No. 2
May we flourish anyway, have a broader view of creativity and the spiritual life, and feel less alone in our art, work, relationships, and beyond.
Hallie Waugh writes poetry and essays about embodiment, spirituality, and connection to place. She holds an MFA in poetry, has taught poetry at the collegiate level, and she is currently serving as the inaugural Poet Laureate for the Oklahoma Metropolitan Library System. Her poetry and essays have been published in or are forthcoming from Dappled Things, Windhover, Naugatuck River Review, Inkwell, and New York Quarterly. She lives in Oklahoma City with her high school sweetheart and their two young boys. You can find her latest writing on her Substack, Weekend Exhale.
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Hallie’s Links:
halliewaugh.com
Instagram
Substack
How do your creativity and spiritual life help you belong to yourself, others, your places, and the divine?
When I'm living in tune with my creativity and spirituality, I am the truest version of myself. And real belonging can only occur when my real self is present—not the projections or façades I so often put up, or the harried version I can so easily become. I belong when I bring my full, real self.
How have your creative expressions and spiritual practices helped you become more of your full self?
They allow me to quiet the onslaught of other voices, expectations, distractions, and false narratives that crowd out my own inner knowing.
What do you behold regularly that nourishes your creative soul? (Nature, art, music, TV shows, etc?)
Film, art, music, the sky, animals, friends. Right now it's been Hadestown (soundtrack and show on Broadway), and the rotating art exhibit at my neighborhood bodega.
What good things are you bestowing on yourself, others, your places, and the broader world?
I'm trying to bestow presence with my kids, though that can be easier said than done. As part of my role as the Poet Laureate of my city's library system, I've had the chance to help people engage with poetry who may have never done so before. I also love having a good poem or prayer on hand to share at opportune moments.
What do you want more of for your creativity and spiritual life?
More space. More weirdness. More boundaries. More agency.
What do you want less of for your creativity and spiritual life?
Less posturing. Less supposed-to. Fewer excuses.
Is there anything else that you'd like to share that defines or represents this current season for you creatively and spiritually?
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Learn about the purpose of the Spiritual Direction for Creative Souls™ Checkup Series here. And if you’d like to participate and be featured in this series, please complete this Google form. I’ll reach out within a week or so to let you know when your checkup responses will be published.
Want to Connect with Other Creative Souls & Feel Less Alone in Your Creative Practice?
Become a paid subscriber to participate in Group Chat for Creative Souls with at least three prompts and facilitated group chats each week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
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Co-Working + Co-Writing for Creative Souls at least five times each week. Co-Working + Co-Writing schedules will be sent out every Sunday for the upcoming week.
Thank for being here. Please let me know if you have any questions. You can email me at charlotte@charlottedonlon.com but know it may take a week or so for me to respond. This is a lovely and full season for me, but I also need a lot of rest, solitude, and breaks from email.
Much love to the creative souls. May we flourish anyway and take some time to reflect on our creativity and spiritual life.
💚 Charlotte
This is a keeper for my next reflection time. Thanks! 💗