CRAFTING CALM

CRAFTING CALM is a DIY guide to peace of mind -- craft your way to inner peace with busy hands and a quiet mind! Put Down the Prozac and Pick Up Some Prayer Beads!

As our world has become over-wired and we are increasingly attached to its technologies (computers, phones, iPads, etc.) an intriguing phenomenon is occurring: there is an increasing amount of interest in returning the simpler arts that were neglected or left behind with the onslaught of technology. Artisans and everyday crafters are finding a renewed satisfaction in making something with their own hands; they are also finding physical and mental health benefits in handwork, framing it as a spiritual practice. Shannon illustrates that you can literally "craft the crazy away" through knitting and crocheting, candle-making, beadwork, and more. By joining up with fellow enthusiasts you create community and enrich your life. Maggie Oman Shannon explores crafts and creativity as a spiritual practice providing enormous benefits. She takes a rich “potpourri approach,” weaving together interviews, historical facts, "Soul Craft" projects for readers, quotations, and suggested resources. CRAFTING CALM inspires with an assortment of spiritual practices from crafts communities around the world, and from everyday people who have adopted creative forms of spiritual practice. There have individual books on beading as a spiritual practice, painting as a spiritual practice, working with clay as a spiritual practice, etc., but no one has yet explored the breadth of possibilities for creative spiritual practices contained in CRAFTING CALM. The book's crafts and how-to ideas include prayer shawls, prayer beads, God Boxes, contemplation candles, sand mandalas, finger labyrinths, personal prayer flags, spiritual toolkits, and luminaries. CRAFTING CALM features inspired craft ideas from luminaries such as Angeles Arrien, Mary Anne Radmacher, Shiloh Sophia McCloud, Sister Marianne Heib, mary Ann Brussat, Lauren Artress, Elda Eastly Vera, and Julia Cameron. REV. MAGGIE OMAN SHANNON is an interfaith minister, spiritual director, workshop and retreat facilitator, and lifelong crafter whose passion is exploring the relationship between creativity and spirituality. A former magazine editor and creativity coach, she is the author of five previous books, including Prayers for Healing. Oman Shannon lives in San Francisco with her husband and young daughter (who also loves to craft.) She currently serves as Spiritual Director of Unity Spiritual Center of San Francisco.