Introducing the Spiritual Direction for Creative Souls™ Checkup Series
May we have a broader view of creativity and the spiritual life and feel less alone in our art, work, relationships, and beyond.
Inhabiting our creativity and spirituality can be lonely endeavors, especially if you have no interest in folding yourself into any of the usual boxes out there. If you hang out on the fringes of certain art and faith circles. If you are too spiritual for mainstream spaces and too “worldly”—or whatever word they use now—for religious spaces.
My hope for the Spiritual Direction for Creative Souls™ Checkup Series is for people to feel less alone creatively and spiritually. Those who are willing to respond to the questions below will gain clarity as they take some time to thoughtfully share where they are at. And readers will see what others are navigating and experiencing, helping all of us have a broader view of the creative process and spiritual life.
The questions below touch on portions of the framework introduced in my book, Spiritual Direction for Writers: Everyday Rituals for Your Writing Life, exploring:
Belonging
Becoming
Beholding
Bestowing
While my ultimate hope is to also have a podcast series with one-on-one conversations featuring the questions below on my All of This & More podcast, this Substack series at Spiritual Direction for Creative Souls™ is a lovely way to begin.
> > > If you’d like to participate and be featured in this series, please complete the Google Form here.
Take no more than 15-25 minutes to answer these questions. You can take more time if you like, but this is meant to be an enjoyable and clarifying reflection. If you feel pressure to take hours to respond, that’s not very enjoyable. Set a timer if you like. Skip some of the questions if you need to. Just put “I’m skipping this one because I’m an adult and I get to do what I want” in response to the question you want to skip. Don’t overthink it. There are no wrong answers. Respond with whatever feels true for now, knowing your responses might (will!) be different tomorrow or next week or next month.
*Completion of the Google form provides your permission for me, Charlotte Donlon, to share your responses on the Spiritual Direction for Creative Souls™ Substack and/or email newsletters and/or social media accounts. I will always tag you and link to your accounts, etc. when sharing your responses.*
If you would like to participate, simply complete the Google form that has the questions listed below. Then I will reach out to you within a week or so to let you know when your Spiritual Direction for Creative Souls™ Checkup will be shared.
I hope to begin sharing installments of this series in the coming days/weeks. I might even go first here in a few minutes or a few hours or a few days.
How do your creativity and spiritual life help you belong to yourself, others, your places, and the divine?
How have your creative expressions and spiritual practices helped you become more of your full self?
What do you behold regularly that nourishes your creative soul? (Nature, art, music, TV shows, etc?)
What good things are you bestowing on yourself, others, your places, and the broader world?
What do you want more of for your creativity and spiritual life?
What do you want less of for your creativity and spiritual life?
Is there anything else that you'd like to share that defines or represents this current season for you creatively and spiritually?
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
Charlotte Donlon is a writer, spiritual director, and gatherer whose work centers on helping people explore themes of belonging, artful encounters, spiritual growth, and how to Flourish Anyway®, even when life is full, busy, or chaotic. Her work has 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 sanctuaries of acceptance and connection.
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. Spiritual Direction for Writers: Everyday Rituals for Your Writing Life is slated for release by Here Below Books in September 2026. Some of 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.