Tortoise Diaries : Daily Meditations for Creativity and Slowing Down

We called him tortoise because he taught us.Lewis Carroll

A daily reader of prayer and meditation in serving the practice of lectio divina or divine reading based on the twelve chapters of Christian McEwen's 2011 book called World Enough Time: On Creativity and Slowing Down.

Focusing in turn on different subjects, each month introduces a new subject ranging from the art of slowing down, considering good company and conversation, investigating child time, to the joys and relaxation to be found in walking. Those who are familiar with Christian's original text will recognize many of the entries, which have been arranged so as to flow smoothly from one to the next, helping to deepen and clarify each particular theme.

The title is drawn, with laughing gratitude, from Lewis Carroll (see the epigraph, above), though it has more ancient origins too. In The Tortoise Diaries, Christian McEwen gives her readers beautiful insight of how slowness can open doors to sustained creativity.

Christian McEwen is a writer, educator, workshop facilitator, and cultural activist. Since leaving New York City twenty years ago, she has edited two anthologies and produced a video documentary, Tomboys!, and a play, Legal Tender: Women and the Secret Life of Money. Her book, World Enough and Time: On Creativity and Slowing Down (Bauhan 2011), is now in its sixth printing and is also available in an audio format. Her most recent collection is Sparks from the Anvil: the Smith College Poetry Interviews, Bauhan 2015). Christian grew up in the borders of Scotland and now lives in western Massachusetts.