Stand Ye in Holy [and Creative] Places, and be Not Moved

I have a little flock of eight Speckled Sussex chickens. They are a friendly breed of chicken that will follow you around and try to sneak in the house if you’re not careful. They love to roam the yard (and occasionally the neighbor’s yard, too) pecking and scratching and just being chickens. Recently, my son came and told me he was concerned one of the chickens was sick. It quit leaving the chicken coop and refused to get out of a nesting box unless physically removed. Of course, the box it didn’t want to leave was always the one full of eggs. The chicken wasn’t sick, it was trying to incubate its eggs. It was broody and its nesting instinct had kicked in. In was doing what so many mothers, animal and human alike, do when they’re expecting: preparing a home for upcoming newborns.

One of my Speckled Sussex chickens.

Wikipedia says the nesting instinct in humans “…is commonly characterized by a strong urge to clean and organize one's home and is one reason why couples who are expecting a baby often reorganize, arrange, and clean the house and surroundings.” My nesting instinct has definitely kicked in. I’ve just finished converting the spare room in my house into my “office”. I bought a secondhand desk, hung pictures, alphabetized my books, washed the window for what I’m pretty sure was the first time in 11 years, vacuumed, dusted, and more. Why? Because I’m pregnant. I have ideas in me incubating and growing and demanding to be born and, like any good parent, I want to provide the best possible place for that to happen to insure their health and safety.

My "nest".

This office is my refuge from the world where I can study and create without much (I do have a family, after all) interruption. Joseph Campbell, the mythology scholar, said, “[A sacred place] is an absolute necessity for anybody today. You must have a room, or a certain hour or so a day…This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are and what you might be. This is the place of creative incubation. At first you may find that nothing happens there. But if you have a sacred place and use it, something eventually will happen.”

Most accomplished writers and artists tell us how important it is to have a place and some time set aside to really focus on our work. A studio or an office is ideal, but a quiet corner of the library, a park bench, or a nook in your laundry room will all do in a pinch. We think of this designated space as creative places. Places for us to do creative work. But what’s interesting about Campbell's quote is that he called this a “sacred place”. So this isn’t just an office I’m writing this in right now? This is a sacred place? A holy place? Absolutely.

Webster’s dictionary defines sacred as “dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; devoted exclusively to one service or use; worthy of religious veneration: holy; entitled to reverence and respect.”

Part of the definition makes sense for the writer and artist right away: Namely, that the space should be “dedicated exclusively to one…use.” When you go into your office or studio or whatever space you’ve managed to come up with, you’re there to work. You have all the supplies you need, and the space is arranged in a way that’s conducive to creating. That’s just common sense. The last part of the definition is also logical after we think about it for a moment: This should be a place that is “entitled to reverence and respect.” This one is especially important for those of us that have a family or roommates. They need to understand how important this space is to us. Do you let your 11 year old kick a soccer ball near your newborn baby? Do you let your teenager crank his electric guitar in the nursery while the newborn baby is sleeping? No. You protect this space. The same is true for protecting our places set aside for nurturing our newborn or even unborn ideas.

It’s the other parts of the definition of sacred that get really interesting. Webster’s says that sacred means “dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity” and that this place should be “worthy of religious veneration”. Does this mean that our office or studio should be a place set aside for us to worship God? Yes. I’ve mentioned in earlier posts that I believe that all positive, enlightening, and uplifting inspiration for our creative works comes from God (whether we know it or not).

This is a turbulent, confusing, and downright scary world to raise a child in. It is just as treacherous for our creative and spiritual growth. We must find refuges for ourselves if we are to thrive. The scriptures give us sound advice on where to find refuge. In Matthew 24:15 we are told to “…stand in the holy place” and in Doctrine and Covenants 87:8 it says “Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved…” Usually these holy places are thought to be temples and churches. These are spiritual places where we can meditate, pray, and be strengthened. But we’re not going to go in there and open up our laptop to work on our latest project. So we need creative places to do that. Thankfully, our homes, offices, and studios can be made into holy places as well if we fill them with holy things, thoughts, and deeds.

There is a painting called “Woman Holding a Balance” by Dutch Baroque artist Johannes Vermeer. I think this painting illustrates the “sacred place” perfectly:

“Woman Holding a Balance” -Johannes Vermeer. An example of a "sacred place".

In it, you have a woman, who appears to be pregnant, standing at a table holding a balance in her hand. Her expression is serene, peaceful. In the background, hanging on the wall, is a picture of Christ during the last judgement. Before her is a mirror. On the table are pearls and gold. This is an artist and/or writer who is pregnant with ideas and striving to make a sacred place for those ideas to come into fruition. She has her work space laid out, devoted to her purposes. There is a sense of quiet reverence and respect. She has the mirror before her as a symbol of the constant introspection needed to keep your mind and spirit clear. The painting of Christ on the wall indicates that she is “standing in a holy place”. A place of prayer and meditation dedicated to the worship of God. She holds up the scales trying to very carefully and deliberately find a balance between the creative place and the holy place so that this can be a sacred place. Through the window comes the subtle, gentle light of the Holy Spirit, of inspiration, illuminating her thoughts. The rewards of her efforts are the precious pearls and gold on the table symbolic of the valuable creative work produced with the right state of mind in such a fertile environment.

Now, just to be clear, I’m not suggesting for a second that Vermeer intended any of this. Certainly not. I’m only using this painting to illustrate my points. However, that being said, virtually all of Vermeer’s paintings were done in just two of the rooms of his own home. This painting was no exception. So, in fact, Vermeer really was painting a picture of his own sacred place. I think that anyone who studies it can feel that even if they don’t agree with my highly subjective analysis.

As Vermeer’s painting shows, the best work happens when the creative places and the holy places overlap. This is the perfect environment for ideas to grow and flourish in. Where we have surrounded ourselves with creative necessities and influences and where we have given the Holy Spirit a place to dwell and work within us. Then we get this beautiful, fertile mix of the holy and the creative and these places can become the kind of “sacred place” that I believe Joseph Campbell was talking about. A place where we can “follow our bliss” as Campbell put it and “…doors will open where you didn’t know there were going to be doors.”