Reflections on 200 Posts

Much Changed, Much the Same - What Remains?

Welcome to An Invitation to Peace. I’m Molly Ovenden, a contemplative poet and painter, and I’m so glad you’re here. May wanes as I write these thoughts in community with 272 writers (and counting) during Writers’ Hour, hosted by London Writers’ Salon. 21 times a week, writers all over the world gather online for an hour of silent writing and companionship behind the screen.

It’s because of the support of this community that I wrote my first post here on 15 July 2022, nearly four years ago. It’s a short post to announce my arrival. Simply put, “It’s Here! a creative experiment for 2022 — This is Molly O's Creativity Avalanche, a newsletter about thoughtful poetry, fiction, life story, & spiritual reflections.” At the time I lived in Duluth, Minnesota.

Here’s a photo I took on a local walk looking up at fluffy white clouds on a striking blue sky background, looking through the sparsely-leafed trees.

My second post here came out 21 July 2022 explaining what I’d be experimenting with in this space and origins of calling it “Molly O’s Creativity Avalanche.” I had then (and still often do) a wrestling with all the things I want to write and create and share with the world. Often it’s felt like an avalanche of creativity that could become suffocating or, if I can become skilled and confident, an awesome and wild ride of freedom and true creativity.

You see, the sharing part has been a significant hump to overcome.

Just a couple weeks before my first posts, on 30 June 2022, I published my first book, Closer: Spiritual Reflections for Writers and Thinkers. Now that was a wild ride. It was in a London Writers’ Salon goal setting workshop (on 1 December 2021) that I decided I finally had to get this book out of my body and into the world. Lo and behold, a few months later, I held it in my hands.

(For those who know me as a Typewriter Poet, which I very much still am and plan to continue to be, when I published Closer, I didn’t even possess a typewriter, let alone fathom it was something I actually could do. In fact, the desire was still repressed. It was hidden until, of course, I was given a typewriter in October 2022, so I know longer had an excuse.)

I have learned SO (as my mom, Maggie, would say, ‘cotton-pickin’) MUCH since I published and celebrated Closer back in June 2022. I have since decided to make some significant changes to this book with what I know about publishing, formatting, writing, etc. I have so much more experience as a confident writer now. Perhaps I’ve learned to ride the Avalanche at least some of the time. It feels appropriate as I press play on Ludovico Einaudi’s song, “Experience” — listen with me here, if you’d like.

This is my ridiculously awesome author mama, Maggie Cedarberg. As of the time of writing this in May 2026, I believe she has 10 chapter books available for young readers. She shares stories of grandparents and adventures with grandchildren, as well as her most recent Cat Brothers series. She’s a freaking champion. Please request her books from your local bookshop, local library, and purchase books for a gramma or grampa — available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

Often throughout my time of writing and writing online, I’ve neglected to share what I’ve written. And I have neglected to share fully what I’ve created. As a result of this, I figured, let’s celebrate and share what I’ve already put into the world. It’s super possible that you, my dear reader (THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE!!!), that you have not fully experienced everything I’ve put out into the world.

As an overview of my written work and projects I’ve celebrated and shared here in the past FOUR years:

• Closer: Spiritual Reflections for Writers and Thinkers - Posts have been about the book like this one, on reflection like this one. (Note: Closer is not currently in print, but will be re-released on its 5th birthday 30 June 2027 as a newly revitalised, revised, and much more awesome version. Stay tuned here, if you’re interested in that.)

• Thomas Goodun, a novel - I have written posts on what I love about my fictional character, like this one as well as excerpts from some of my early writings for the novel, like this one.

• Journaling Prompts and Invitations to Reflection - initially available inside a membership community (which is why it says it’s for paid readers), but I wanted to share them with the public (that’s you), and have made posts like this one available.

• Peaceful Reflections - I have hosted a 100 days of Prayer Through Colossians, starting here and ending here.

• Poetry + Painting - Writing poetry in response to my own artwork is a thing, too, like most recent April 2026 Ekphrastic Challenge Collection called, “New Light, Returning Daily.” You can read about this challenge here.

Here’s me, yellow raincoated-arms up, smiling in the rain, stood outside an art gallery.

And, what’s coming next?

I can imagine it will be more of the same. Some people have a beautiful isolated focus on one project. Though it doesn’t necessarily look like that kind of “focus” for me and my creativity avalanche, while I offer an invitation of peace and I practice being a peaceful finisher, my “one project” is to be a contemplative poet and painter.

That means I write poems in response to spiritual experiences, in response to something I notice while I’m running or training for marathon, when I’m near the sea or other big water, when I visit art galleries to REALLY look at the artworks.

It also means that I share stories in personal essay form, encourage journaling, offer spiritual reflections to connect with a reader’s soul to remember for ourselves what it is to be human.

And, it means that I celebrate what inspires me, whether it’s my own progress, the writing of another, or my painting exploratory process.

I continue to commit to writing and sharing my creativity joy with the world. I hope you’ll join me. Consider this your invitation to peace.

Here’s a photo of me with country fields in the background.

Thanks for being with me.

Until next time, I’m Molly Ovenden. I’m a contemplative poet and painter.