I don’t remember when I started collecting the stories. In conversations with artists, coaching clients, and friends, in books and movies—I’ve been on a secret scavenger hunt these last few years, watching for how art moves people, how creative expression cracks our tough exterior and lets the light in.
Here are some of my favorite examples:
Author Anne Lamott’s conversion story begins with the hearing of a gospel choir singing from an open church window across the street from a flea market.1
The first time Sarah Bessey saw a real van Gogh painting prompted a spiritual revelation. In her book, Field Notes for the Wilderness, she said, “It’s really real. Van Gogh did this work and here it is and here I am and it’s really real….Perhaps someday we will simply be before Jesus the way I stood before van Gogh’s paintings in that gallery.”2
In the depths of my toughest years as a musician, feeling burnt out and numb, sitting in the hallowed halls of Juilliard, the most profound grief set in when I realized that not even music could move me anymore. Then one day, toward the end of one very long semester, a classmate of mine stood and sang a melody for his recitation exam in ear-training class. That tune opened a door I thought would be locked forever.3
What I love about these stories (and the dozens more I’ve collected over the years) is the potency with which art communicates and calls to us.
I was one person, and then— I heard that music, I saw that sculpture, I stood before that painting— and now I am entirely another.
This week, I was reflecting on why I keep showing up here, the “why” behind my work. I realized it is this belief that is central to all my creative offerings:
Art is an open door, a thin place, a whisper, a still small voice, or an all-consuming avalanche of grace— it leaves us different from how it found us.
So this is why I’m here: to remind artists and spiritual seekers alike that creativity offers a unique pathway to self-discovery—to personal development— but also connection with the divine.
A new name on Substack
When I started Artists for Joy back in 2017 (with a weekly blog and in-person creative recovery groups), the mission was simple: support artists by offering resources to explore how the creative life can bring deep satisfaction, healing, and even joy. In 2020, I started the podcast and began my coaching certification.
That mission remains central to all that we do today: the book, recovery cohorts, masterminds, coaching, speaking, etc. I love helping artists find joy. This work is so life-giving to me.
And yet, looking back on the last eight years, I see that the creative coaching conversations often brought us to the precipice of something more profound than the term “personal development” allowed—this spiritual experience of making and encountering art.
I’ve decided to officially use Substack as my outlet for leaning more fully into these conversations and explorations, so starting today, the weekly writings here will have a new name: Art’s Open Door.4
Art isn’t just a hobby or a hustle; creativity can be a deeply resonant spiritual practice that connects us to ourselves, to each other, and to the sacred.
We will continue to explore the joy of creativity, but now with a specific focus on art and art-making as spiritual practice.
Who’s welcome here
We are living in divisive times. Maybe you’re waiting for me to tell you who’s in and who's out. Maybe spiritual discussions haven’t always been a safe place for you to be yourself.
Here’s another thing I love about how art moves us—My Creator speaks in gospel choirs, sure, but also in birdsong, the silence between the cresting waves, and the graffiti on a crumbling, forgotten city wall. When I discuss the spiritual, it often includes religious practice, but it also more broadly refers to any internal experience the reader/listener is having.
My approach in this work is greatly informed by the interfaith exchange and cultural diversity that the artists from my creative clusters have brought to the table over the years.
In short, whatever your unique spiritual expression looks like, you’re welcome here.
Rooted in the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) tradition, I will share insights from my vantage point, using words like God, Maker, Spirit, and Creator to describe my experience with the divine. I’ll explore scripture and faith insights specific to my practice. When doing so, I hope to honor both the rich tapestry of spiritual tradition and the boundless nature of God, who transcends all human categories.
Whenever possible, I look for the most invitational and expansive ways to explore these spiritual themes; I trust you to take what is helpful and leave the rest.
What else you need to know
Artists for Joy Podcast and Patreon aren’t changing. Art’s Open Door is an expansion of the community; it still falls under the larger Artists for Joy “brand.”5
Moving forward, expect the same wholehearted, creative coaching content every Friday on the Artists for Joy podcast, with an emphasis on sparking joy and finding well-being as an artist.
And here, weekly-ish on Wednesdays with Art’s Open Door, we will explore contemplative creativity—creation as a form of meditation and prayer, how a painting can help us make a decision, how music keeps us company, and how art is an open door to the divine. There will be some overlap occasionally, I’m sure!
What You Need to Do
Good news: if you’re already subscribed, you don’t need to do anything! Your subscription is automatically being moved over to Art’s Open Door.
Since the umbrella community of Artists for Joy isn’t changing, the host URL (@artistsforjoy) will look the same, and all the links will still work.
Just so you know:
The header, logo, and sender name will look different both in your inbox and on Substack.
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If you know someone who would love Art’s Open Door, you can forward this email and have them click the button below. (THANK YOU to all of you who have already subscribed and shared!)
Before I go, I want to offer a quote that I’m holding close to my heart as I take this new creative step:
Thomas Merton said, “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
Here’s to being lost and found together.
I’m so glad you’re here.
With joy,
Merideth
Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith (Anchor Books, 2000), 44–55.
Sarah Bessey, Field Notes for the Wilderness: Practices for an Evolving Faith (Convergent Books, 2024), 106–7.
I wrote an essay about this experience for my new book. It’s title inspired the Substack’s new name! You can hear the music and read that whole story here.
You may remember this was the name of a popular series we did a year ago, and into the winter! Many of you subscribed during that series, so I think you’ll like this official new direction!
Feels cringy to call it a brand, but here we are!