That’s sacred.
I look up the word sacred in the New Oxford American dictionary. Sacred means: connected with God or the gods or dedicated to a religious purpose and so deserves veneration. Regarded with great respect and reverence. That dry, institutionally oriented definition doesn’t describe the potency of the sacred for me, nor the intimate relationship of creative expression and sacred experience. Painting to heal, writing as a journey to truth, communing soul to soul, breathing in the wild, spontaneous singing, dancing, playing, making authentic love, observing children, witnessing birthing and dying, creating that way, creating this way, opening to Creator creating through me in so many ways, all that makes my cells hum, my cheeks flush and eyes flash, sometimes sparkle with tears. My arms get goosebumps and I vibrate with an “energetic something” outside myself - that also includes myself. I’m cocooned in experience and forget self-judgement, comparison, worry and fear. Time morphs. I am fully alive.
That sounds like ecstasy to me. And that’s sacred!
Awe, wonder, grief and terror, all engage our awareness with something greater than ourselves, which is humbling to the human who thinks she’s in control.
By the by, have you ever noticed that if you switch the “a” and the “c”, sacred becomes scared? I think that’s relevant. By exploring all our dark feelings, our fears and destructive impulses, through creative practice, we make room for love, compassion and the heart’s healing to flow back into our bodyminds.
That’s sacred . . .and the gift of creative sacred living for me.
PS. Here’s the trailer for a relevant 2005 movie by Velcrow Ripper:
Scared Sacred – Unwrap the Darkness, Reveal the Light.