When the Light Returns: Hope, Suffering, and the Creative Life
It was only eight o’clock in the morning and so much had already happened.
During this morning’s Spiritual Direction for Writers® co-writing session, in addition to the intentions everyone shared for their writing time after we first gathered and the updates on how our writing time actually went before we parted, everyone present mentioned a personal difficulty. One person told the group that they hadn’t been around much lately because they’ve been struggling with depression. Another person told us about their frustration with their employer who wasn’t honoring their need for certain accommodations that were harmful to their physical wellbeing. Another person mentioned new worries related to financial stress.
I appreciated everyone’s honesty and how we have created a space that is safe for those who show up to write and connect with other creative souls. And I was really glad I had chosen this poem for this morning’s co-writing session’s invocation. The words were a good reminder—at least for me—that this world is mutilated and it is worthy of our praise.
The closing lines are what I always try to take away with me whenever I read this poem:
Praise the mutilated world
and the gray feather a thrush lost,
and the gentle light that strays and vanishes
and returns.-from “Try to Praise the Mutilated World” by Adam Zagajewski
When the light has strayed and vanished (again) we wait for the light to return (again).
So much of life is noticing how we are moving through cycles of light and darkness and waiting for more light.
*
After our checkin, I sat with today's SDW Daily Nourishment—and found that it kept reaching back toward the poem. Today’s offering included the Mary Karr quote below that was part of a July 1 Daily Nourishment offering from a few years ago.
“No life is all bleak… That’s what’s so gorgeous about humanity. It doesn’t matter how bleak our daily lives are, we still fight for the light. I think that’s our divinity. We lean into love, even in the most hideous circumstances. We manage to hope.”
—Mary Karr, The Paris Review
When I first came across this quote by Mary Karr, I was overwhelmed by all of the suffering around me. (It’s not hard for me to be overwhelmed by all of the suffering around me.) In the midst of personal stress and global tragedies, hope was elusive. I don't like to paper over suffering with silver linings. The hard things deserve space, as well as plenty of honesty and company. But I keep coming back to this: the mutilated world is also the praised world. The darkness is real, and so is the light that returns. But I realized maybe I had more control over my ability to hope than I thought. Perhaps I could manage to hope. I could hope for hope, and that thought—the idea that I could hope for hope—helped me find my way back into feeling hopeful, even if it was only a tiny mustard seed of hope.
I’ve continued to hope for hope when necessary ever since.
So much of life is noticing how we are hopeful, hopeless, or simply hoping for hope.
I wanted to include some visual art in today’s SDW Daily Nourishment offering, and Jacob Lawrence’s The Migration Series came to mind. So, I added those visual representations of hopefulness and hopelessness (and maybe even some hoping for hope) and sat with all of those good words and art and ideas from Mary Karr and Jacob Lawrence along with all of the hard things all around me for 15 minutes or so.
*
We all returned to the Zoom call, unmuting ourselves and turning our videos back on to check in and say how our writing time went. One participant found a dark gray feather on her front stoop and used part of her writing time to think about why the feather matters. Another completed a letter of recommendation that had been hanging over their head. One tried to revise an essay but was frustrated with the results.
Then I shared about today’s SDW Daily Nourishment and how it all connects to the poem I read when we first gathered and to our suffering and to the good things that show up anyway during our suffering and how the light always returns even when it seems like the darkness is going to linger far too long.
We began our day honoring our creativity and the truth that we are not alone. We were seen and known. We took time to see and know others. We tended our work, writing, and souls.
And we left with a little more hope. Or more hope for hope.
*
Much love to the creative souls. May we flourish anyway today and all days.
💚Charlotte
P.S.
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Spiritual Direction for Writers® is a free daily offering available online here.
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) and a certificate in spiritual direction (2018-2020), 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. Three volumes of Charlotte's "Guidebooks for the Soul"—Take More Retreats, The Great Belonging Project, and Belonging Through Art—will also be published in 2026.
As the founder of several initiatives, 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 here.
Flourish Anyway® is Charlotte’s online hub for all of her writing, spiritual direction, small press, gatherings, and other offerings.