About Sylvia…
I am a visual artist, with a background in music (both instrumental and vocal). I hold a BA degree in graphic communication, I’m a graduate of a 2-year certified spiritual direction program, “Selah”, offered through Leadership Transformations, Inc., and a member of ESDA I am certified as an Enneagram Practitioner through IEA, receiving training through Motions of the Soul and LTI.
I love good wine, excellent food, and friends to share it with! My husband, Patrick, and I lived in Europe for five years and have enjoyed cycling vacations through France, Italy, Denmark and Spain.
I have been married for more than half the years I’ve been alive to a wonderful man whose employment and adventurous spirit has taken us all around the world. I have two grown children and six grand children. My husband and I love to practice hospitality in our home, and so the idea that there is a spacious hospitality offered to our souls, graced in time, place, and heart, resonates with me. As such, I see spiritual direction as a holy invitation extended to us by God… a gracious hospitality that invites us to a spacious time and place in our hearts.
My statement of faith is best expressed in the Nicene Creed.
Painting: “Into the Mystery” by Sylvia McGuire
What is spiritual direction?
There are many ways people have been opening up safe spaces for one another through the centuries. For thousands of years one such practice of hospitality for the soul has been called “spiritual direction.” Spiritual direction, or spiritual companionship, is the practice of coming alongside another to assist in attuning one’s heart to the spiritual movements within one’s story. The stuff of everyday life is the raw material for our sessions, as together we listen to what the Spirit is saying about life. While our sessions will often be centered in prayer, we do not practice prayer as a technique, but as a life of relationship with God – living all of life as prayer.
While other practices of soul care, such as counseling, life coaching, and mentoring, normally have achievable goals with a beginning and an ending, the goal of spiritual direction is the lifelong journey of living life from the heart, in emotionally and relationally healthy ways. I see all of these practices as complementary to one another and helpful in peoples’ lives.
When might you seek out spiritual direction?
… when sensing a fresh hunger and thirst for God
…when heading out on a path of growth, or making life direction decisions
…when seeking God in the complexity of life
…when needing objective wisdom
…when desiring accountability
What can you expect and how can you prepare?
It is my great honor and joy to meet with you. Sessions last approximately an hour, and I recommend a monthly meeting, which gives you the opportunity to continue listening to God around the things he is revealing to you in our sessions.
It will be helpful if you prayerfully consider the events, circumstances, and relationships of the past month, and notice any questions, struggles, and needs that you become aware of.
Fee: There is a fee of $40-$80 per session, which is always negotiable. I value your journey with God above your ability to contribute. This is payable via Venmo, PayPal, cash or check.
Creative Soul Care Workshops, Ignatian Retreat and Enneagram Workshops
As a visual artist and person who thrives on creativity, I believe that the arts can be a vital way for many of us to connect with our true selves and with God. I provide day retreats where, in community we can explore truth, beauty, and the inner life in an atmosphere of freedom and safety. Creative explorations can include Poetry writing, visual journals, painting, journaling, photography, dance….
“Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.” -Stella Adler
“Soul is not about function, it is about beauty and form and memory. In a world where soul is neglected, beauty is placed last on its list of priorities.” -Thomas Moore
Enneagram Workshops and Personal Consultations
The Enneagram is an elegant tool, many centuries old, that is useful in our journey of transformation. It is also a very organic tool, which has grown in people’s interpretations over the centuries, and especially over this past decade. The emphasis of this teaching is not to put each of our personalities in a box, but to honor the beautiful way that each of us are made in the image of our Creator, and the loving, gracious ways that God is transforming us daily into that image. Christ was “fully human, yet without sin” and thus his human personality is the perfect expression of what the Enneagram traditionally calls the “True Self”. None of us are just one number, but much more beautifully complex and individual than that.
Ignatian Retreat
The Ignatian Exercises were developed originally by St. Ignatius of Loyola in the 16th century, and have gained a lot of notice in recent years among both Catholics and Protestants. I see these scripture/prayer practices as a gift to those who desire to grow deeply in their journey with God. In our daily times with God, we are invited to allow Him to inspire our imaginations as we encounter Jesus, people, and places as described in the Gospel stories. On some years I offer this retreat in everyday life, beginning in September/October, ending in May: a 9 month deep dive into the love and grace of God in the life of Jesus. Other years I do a shortened version. The longer retreat includes both group sessions and individual spiritual direction. I have found these spiritual practices to be amazingly effective for our journey of transformation.
Contact
Please feel free to contact me at aksylvia@gmail.com.
Invitations - Gracious Hospitality for the Soul 