The Secret City Lives!

Monday night in New York City. The window is open and I can hear the city calming down. 

We had our most recent meeting of The Secret City yesterday and our congregation and mission continue to grow. The Secret City was formed by me in October of last year. Bored with the commercial theatre and tired of the marketplace; I decided to make manifest an idea I've had for many years: secular Art Church, Church for Artists. No religion, but the belief that art and creativity are inherently sacred. The name The Secret City has banged around in my head for years, from my years of making art and music and performance in LA...I love the idea that for many artists, we see the world with an eye toward the sacred EVERYDAY, and that this is it's own spiritual practice...to look for connections, to find synchronicity, to foster dialog between art, life, people, politics, nature, history and more. My experience is that artists do this as second nature, that their work and practice gives them a way of finding connections, and so I was interested in creating a place that formalized that belief. So, last year I rented a small space on 14th Street in New York City, and I began to hold monthly services. We met with three people sitting on the floor, and I shared my vision with them. They seemed excited by it. Since then, we've met monthly and our congregation and mission have grown and deepened. We have a monthly theme inspired by the calendar (Memorial Day=Memory, April 1st=The Fool's Journey) and the gathering is structured like a service...so there's live music, and a call and response, we have a taste of some food offering, a reading of a poem or something else related to the theme. We look at a piece of visual art together and discuss, I write an essay linking the ideas and various art works together. Then we meditate and listen to music. After each service there's a coffee hour...

Over the last ten months, I'm struck by how important it is to find the balance between the sincere and the light-touch. To create an experience that asks people to let down their guard, and also provide an event that is not heavy, or overly serious. Thought provoking but not preachy. Stimulating but not superficial.

The mission continues--people have started to find a place in their lives for this monthly gathering, and it seems to have had an affect. I know it has made my life more meaningful, and given me back some of the rich and beautiful experiences of making meaningful art together with other people. It has focused my thoughts and deepened my daily life. And, as I have asked to be led to deeper insights in my life and creativity, I have been answered with this incredible thing called The Secret City.

All are welcome.

We meet the last Sunday of the month in Manhattan. Email me for details. I will be starting branches in other cities sometime soon. 

For now, I will leave you with this, "we're connected."