Hildegard of Bingen

Isn’t it lovely to be experiencing the cool, crisp mornings of September? Ahhhh! We can breathe comfortably again!

Summer is wonderful in its own way- a time of lots of visiting, fresh fruit and vegetables, swimming and ice cream cones! But for me, it’s also a time that feels a little chaotic.

Fall brings with it order, routine, planning and Thanksgiving, which is my favourite holiday in the calendar year. This week, I came across a marvellous quote found in the body of Christine Valters Paintner’s weekly Abbey of the Arts post. She was talking about Hildegard of Bingen, whose feast day it is today. Hildegard was a 12th century Benedictine Abbess. She was a visionary leader of extraordinary creative power. She was a monk, a herbal healer, a visual artist, a musician, a poet, a spiritual director and more! Although she was one busy lady, she also taught about the value of cultivating moderation and balance in one’s life. She developed a list of 35 virtues that she felt one should cultivate in pursuit of a happy, fulfilled life. The fourteenth of these she called discretio or discretion, the opposite of which she called ‘excess’. In writing about discretio she said, “ A person who toils more than her body can bear is rendered useless in her spirit by ill-judged roil and abstinence. Living hopelessly and joylessly, that person’s sense often fails.”

Christine commented on this by saying: “The key to creative flourishing is cultivating moderation and balance. The virtue of discretio is about discerning the right path and not being overburdened or overworked so that we are stretched too thin and joy is lost.”

I was really struck by these words coming after the experience of a very busy August and early September which was full of good things and lovely visits with people, but which did lack the balance of rest and reflection. This week I have been on a silent retreat, spending 72 hours alone resting, reflecting, journaling, just lying on my porch swing gazing at a tree for an hour, eating ice cream, going swimming and taking long afternoon naps.

The result is that I feel balance is being restored!

Thank you, Hildegard and Christine, for writing us these words of wisdom! May we all know balance and restoration in our lives!