Today, the Patheos blog Sick Pilgrim published a piece I’ve been working on this fall, about how much life is found while following the spirit of creativity, and letting go of institutional identity.

The main theme throughout the essay is this: Losing faith in an institution is not the same as losing faith in God. I’ve lost faith in the Church as an institution and no longer feel it’s important to identify as a Catholic. But my faith in God and my spirituality has never felt stronger, more open, or more interesting.

Here is an excerpt from the piece:

This creative energy led me to confidently understand: It is a positive and life-giving choice for me to let go of the burden of the institutional Church. Another way of saying this would be: Not my circus, not my monkeys.

I really am thrilled to be using my voice publicly again, after several years of hiatus. Shout-out to Liz Gilbert’s book “Big Magic” for giving me the encouragement I needed to find my courage, and to center creativity in my life.

Read my full piece here: Choosing Creativity over the Church (re-titled “Why I can’t Stay”)

Update: St Marys Press’s Going Going Gone blog has re-printed this piece as well, which you can read here: Why I Can’t Stay