The Contemplative Life: An Audio Essay on How Observing Advent Makes Me Feel Less Alone

In this episode, Charlotte reads an essay she wrote about how the church years helps her feel less alone. This essay was originally published in Christianity Today.

As we engage more deeply with the ancient streams of art and faith, how they inform one another, and how all of this can create profound new possibilities for belonging, we need ways to respond.

Through her work as a spiritual director for writers, artists, and those all along the belief-and-unbelief spectrum, Charlotte Donlon explores how belonging intersects with the contemplative life.

Charlotte Donlon helps readers and clients notice how they belong to themselves, others, God, and the world. Charlotte is a writer, a spiritual director for writers, the Writer-in-Residence for a local coffee shop and bookstore, and the founder and host of the Our Faith in Writing podcast and website. She’s also the host for the Hope for the Lonely and A Writer’s Diary podcasts. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Curator, The Christian Century, Christianity Today, Catapult, The Millions, Mockingbird, and elsewhere. Her first book is The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other. You can subscribe to her newsletter and connect with her on Twitter and Instagram. Learn more about Charlotte, her writing, and her work at charlottedonlon.com.