Playful Devotion to a Spirit-led Life

introducing my phrase of the year and an invitation for you

Devoted to the Flow

Without riverbanks… rivers flood, erode land, disrupt habitats, and muddy waters. Structure lets a river flow with purpose — and creativity is no different. It’s why I love writing prompts and drawing assignments. If I am given a box, I know how to think out of the box. If I am given a blank space, I wander and dawdle and don’t make much of anything.

When I quit my job and moved states last year, I suddenly had all the time I wanted. But instead of my creativity naturally exploding into a flurry of sparkles, I found myself feeling halted, creatively and spiritually. I realized that having all the time in the world wasn’t enough. Without structure and routines, my river was flooding and disrupting my life.

And thus, enters my Phrase of the Year for 2025: PLAYFUL DEVOTION

For me, playful devotion means to show up for others every day with my whole self. I want to tap into the childlike joy that can come from playful commitment to learning and creating. I remember a summer as a child where I went to the library and checked out stacks of books about mermaids — I could barely contain all the books in my arms. I read all I could for weeks, and created a big mermaid mixed-media art piece — a whole underwater scene of mermaids and fish and sea life. I remember carefully drawing each scale on each mermaid’s tale.

Then, after it was completed, I abandoned that art piece and moved on to dragons.

Playful devotion is serious, and not serious at all. Sometimes after I create something big and beautiful, I am scared to create again in fear that it will not measure up. Many one-time bestselling authors feel this way. Elizabeth Gilbert, in her book Big Magic, writes about the idea of creating with reckless abandon. She says to dedicate yourself to your artistic work for the joy of creating, not for a desired outcome. Devotion is in your control, external outcomes (such as “likes,” subscriber counts, New York Times bestseller lists, fame, public reception, financial success) are not.

Building Spiritual Devotion

As I have reflected on my spiritual life and spiritual growth this year, I realized that I want to spend more time applying playful devotion to my spiritual life. I have truly come to believe that using my creativity is a direct way that I serve God.

A lot of the people who read this newsletter are, like me, people who grew up very religious, but have now embraced a wider understanding of spirituality. We find ourselves in a new terrain — like Sarah Bessey writes about so beautifully in Field Notes for the Wilderness.

It can be scary — it can feel like we are a river without borders. Some people who abandon their riverbanks end up hurting themselves or others. Others lose a certain clarity about themselves and life.

In my faith evolution, I have spent a good amount of time questioning things, being angry about things, mourning things, grieving things, and now… I am ready to build.

I hope that consciously choosing devotion to our work and our spirit helps us build up our riverbanks, and let Creativity (the spirit of God) flow within ourselves and our lives.

I want to invite you, my dear Reader, wherever you are in your faith journey, to take a chance on God this year. What I mean by that is to open your creative channels to the Creator, and expect gentle and powerful changes to come.

Invitation: Planting Spiritual Seeds Together

I am excited to announce a new monthly initiative: Spiritual Seeds.

Each month, I will send out a prompt, question, or invitation to help you explore your creativity and spirituality. This is an opportunity for you to plant something meaningful and life-giving in your soul’s garden — and share it with others, if you feel called (yes, it can be anonymous!).

On Wednesday, January 8th, look out for this month’s Spiritual Seed. When you’ve created something — anything — inspired by it, send your thoughts, sketches, or writings my way at kimberpoon@gmail.com. Yes, you!

I’d love to applaud your work, encourage you, and cheer you on! Let’s cultivate our gardens together.

My hope is that you will tap into that creative flow (AKA the Holy Spirit!?!) and open yourself up to exploring your creativity and spirituality this year. I hope these prompts will bring you into a playful devotion with creativity and with God.

I can’t wait to see what blooms for you this year.

some NYC blooms from last spring :-)

Playfully devotedly yours,