Creative Blessings: Embracing New Life with Shama Beata

Join host Tara Lamont Eastman as she reflects on Valentine's Day and its origins, sharing a delightful story about her encounter with St. Valentine's legacy. Discover the creative journey of Reverend Evon Lloyd, a retired Presbyterian clergywoman who embraced art therapy and created Shama Beata, a character symbolizing healing and blessing. Learn about Evon's crocheted doll creations and their meaningful impact on recipients. This episode encourages embracing creativity, love, and new life, inviting listeners to engage with their unique creative expressions for personal growth and spreading love in the world.

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• 12:50 [Ad] Faith That Challenges. Conversations that Matter. Laughs included. Subscribe Now!
• 13:39 (Cont.) Creative Blessings: Embracing New Life with Shama Beata

Transcript

S6 E9 Creative Blessings: Embracing New Life with Shama Beata

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: [00:00:00] Welcome to Holy Shenanigans. I'm your muse, Tara Lamont Eastman, pastor, podcaster, and practitioner of Holy Shenanigans. Here at Holy Shenanigans podcast, we are always curious and on the lookout for the ways the holy and sacred show up in our everyday lives. Thank you for joining us on this always sacred and never stuffy adventure that we call Holy shenanigans In the last few days, you have probably celebrated Valentine's Day. It is a time where people are focused on love and romance. But today, I want to go back to the origins of this day and Saint [00:01:00] Valentine. And this all came about this week as I was preparing to pick up some flowers for some folks in my congregation.

Earlier this morning, I had three different places that I could have chosen to pick up flowers. One grocery store, another grocery store, and then one bigger box store that was closest to my work. Somehow, I chose to go to the very last store that was on my journey.

I went into this big store and there were flowers and valentines and candy everywhere. I ended up choosing two dozen roses. That were actually less expensive than the flowers I had originally intended to buy. As I went to the cashier to check out, she kind of rolled her eyes and went, Ugh, Valentine's Day, constructed holiday.

And I [00:02:00] paused and thought, well, kind of. I said, but do you know about St. Valentine? And she goes, no, I don't think I know anything about St. Valentine. So I paused and spoke with this lovely person and said, you know, Valentine's Day is about speaking up to power in the name of love. And St. Valentine would marry off soldiers to their partners, even though the overseeing government did not want them to be married.

They didn't want them to have connections or, try to preserve their life for the sake of their family. They wanted them to go into battle with no connections or caution, but St. Valentine didn't feel this was right and secretly married people off to the point that it upset the government so much that he was actually martyred.

But St. Valentine was committed [00:03:00] to making the world a place. Of more connection and more love. And so as I left the shop that day, the cashier said, wow, I learned something new. And isn't that the point of Valentine's day? Isn't that the point of life really? That we continue to learn more ways of making love more a focus of our daily lives.

So I extend to you a little bit late, some Valentine's day greeting to you, and I am so excited today because we have a special guest to help us learn something new about love and life and being a blessing in the world. And so today we have with us Reverend Evon Lloyd, and she is here today to tell us all about how creativity and love [00:04:00] can make a difference in the world.

Hi, Evon.

Evon Lloyd: Hi, Tara. Thank you so much for having me today.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: You're welcome. You're welcome. It's such a lovely day. As we are recording this just a few days before Valentine's day. A time for us to think about love and what a need there is for love in the world and how we can share more love in the world. So Evon and I met through some incidences of holy shenanigans in clergy world about a year ago, and we've stayed in touch ever since then.

When I was installed at my new pastoral call, Evon sent me a lovely handmade gift that was just such an expression of love. And I've been sharing this gift, this beautiful crocheted doll that you have made for me with many, many folks in my setting. And, part of our conversation today came about because people are like, [00:05:00] how in the world do I get one of those?

How do I order one for families and friends? That people saw it and immediately said, Oh my goodness, what an expression of love. And so part of why we're having a conversation today is to talk about your work of making these dolls. But before we get into that whole part of the conversation today, I would love to know where that started.

But before I ask that question, I'd like to know a little bit more about you, Evon. Who are you in the world? And tell the people that are listening today more about you.

Evon Lloyd: Thank you. I am a retired Presbyterian Church USA clergywoman. And I retired the end of 2021 and I have served small churches in 13 different locations during my 35 years of ministry plus 35 now, but beyond that, but at the end of 2021, I really [00:06:00] needed. To stop what I was doing and to kind of focus on my family on myself and some health care.

So that was kind of the impetus for that, but I needed to stay relevant in some way. And that first year of retirement my husband and I moved back to my home. area of origin after being away for a long time. So it's been nice to be home in that sense. And we live near Lake Erie and water is a big deal for me.

I'm a water baby and I was born on the shore of Lake Erie many, many, many years ago. So it was kind of nice to come home. When I retired, I really was at loose ends because I, I knew I was going to retire. I knew where I was going to live, but I did not have a plan. I just kind of jumped and ended up, kind of revisiting something I would have liked to have done when I was younger, which one of my options was to become an art therapist. And at the [00:07:00] time that was not a big deal. I would have needed to go to Chicago. And I thought, no, I don't think I'm going to go to Chicago. But I online took an art therapy practitioner course.

And during that process I went to an art therapy group to observe, just kind of watch what was happening. At a local counseling center called Journey for a Trauma Informed Life and they cater to the queer community and I thought, oh, this is really cool. So I ended up becoming a participant instead of an observer over several weeks over the next year.

And then last year in 2023 was the last. Of my participation in that. And one of the assignments was to create a character and something about oneself. So of course you're learning about yourself and healing and all of that through art therapy. so during my process of healing [00:08:00] myself, I have found a way to give and share with others that's not.

Preaching on Sunday, but it is still connected to ministry. So that's been very cool. So I ended up with this little character made out of paper and I named it Beata. And Beata means blessed or happy. And we had just adopted a rescue dog. Earlier that fall, and her name is Beata, so Beata was fresh in my mind, and so there became the little, character, and then through the spring, I ended up doing artist trading cards with that character.

I started writing poetry. I started doing larger works of art, and I ended up creating a book. 

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: So the name of this character is Shama Beata. Beata is blessing, but what does Shama mean?

Evon Lloyd: is my own creation, and actually Beata became a Shama Beata the more I [00:09:00] worked with them. Shama is related to Shaman kind of the healer. So Shama Beata is a happy healer. And bringing the gift of healing presence care, love the mysteries, spirit connection. With that name Shama Viyatta.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: So when you first started working with Shama Beata was your first. Expression of them, the dolls , or was it in word and visual?

Evon Lloyd: The first expression was the paper character, then drawings of the character in certain situations. And then I started creating words to tell stories about the illustrations. And then they kind of went back and forth, you know, the drawing might come first, the poem might come first. Then I started creating cloth body dolls, I have two.

And my cousin's daughter is eight. And she saw the doll and she said, you could have the doll and book [00:10:00] and, you know, you could sell it online. . So I created the book and then I started creating the crocheted dolls. 

It just kept growing.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: title of the book that you so beautifully named is I give you the world. And so this went from an idea to the world, to like this whole universe for Shama Beata, it seems.

Evon Lloyd: It did, Beata says, and then there's like these little vignettes of what kind of little wisdom sayings or wisdom instruction. So the title ended up coming later. Shama Beata says, I give you the world. yeah, it just kept growing and growing.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: That's wonderful. So, very much like Valentine's Day started with one thing and has led to so many others, right? That today I am curious to hear part of Shama Beata's story, and you said you would like to read that for us.

Evon Lloyd: I would like to start with the very first one I wrote, because I [00:11:00] find that I'll experience things if I'm out walking in nature, if I'm watching the sun come up, and so the first one I, started with is called Shamabhiyata says walk tenderly, and this I wrote after being out in lawn one morning And realizing I needed to be careful where I was walking because all of a sudden there was a ladybug on the ground, or there was something in another spot.

And I thought, oh, I don't want to step on that, you know, when I walk tenderly through the green grass, a ladybug watches my feet go past a gentle tread upon the soil leaves the tiny snakes nest unspoiled. Spiders swing from leaves on the trees and birds look down into my hair. Tiny green sprouts of fresh plants grow tall when I tiptoe around them without squashing them at [00:12:00] all.

When you walk tenderly, what do you see? When you walk tenderly, how do you feel? Life looks back at you and at me. So the illustration is Shama Beato walking on the path and there's a little frog hiding under a leaf. And there's a snake crossing behind. There's a ladybug. There's a butterfly on her sleeve, you know.

It just kind of, it just flows, you know. It's fun to start with the same character.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Yeah. And so you chose this story for, I believe a reason and I'm just curious, what is it about walking gently or tenderly that you think is needed in our world today?

Evon Lloyd: I think caring for one another and being Gentle and kind, because all beings [00:13:00] are living their lives, most of them if not all the best they can and without being destructive we are interacting in our world and I think it's important for us to. offer that care life is reciprocal our natural world, the human world, the animals, you know, all of that.

There's an author that talks about the economy of giving or a giving society. Instead of requiring, but giving and that has kind of what's happened with then going on to create the dolls. The dolls I have created with the crochet I created one just to see if I could do it.

And I have that first one Shama Beata, and then I've created a plethora of friends. So I have created 38. Shama be out to friends, finding that each one has a different name, there's a story about each [00:14:00] one and what they're connected to, and I've been giving them, I have not charged for any so far, it's always to somebody I know, and usually for a special purpose or, that they need some gentleness or kindness

It's been fabulous to do. My last one went to Hawaii and it arrived over the weekend to a family that I don't see often, but probably would be like my closest one that would be a grandchild. So that was exciting.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Wonderful. And I am one of those very fortunate folks who have received one of these dolls. One that you said in Mythology, Awen was the cauldron of which comes creative inspiration. And this is such a creative process. I wonder Evon, if there are folks that haven't yet started on a creative process or they have an idea of, Oh, I would really like to try this or write [00:15:00] this or create this.

What word of encouragement would you give them in that effort?

Evon Lloyd: Nike, just do it doesn't matter what other people think, , it is really. An embodiment of ourselves, and it is a way of loving ourselves to share that which bubbles up. If you're interested in painting, , a simple watercolor set from discount store, , and a paintbrush and some paper and just start playing, just play.

And that's what kind of what art therapy is, it's play. You just start or find a class or you know, just do it. 

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: that's wonderful. So you have just embraced this creative process. Has this been something that has been with you your whole life?

Evon Lloyd: it has, , I was an art minor in college but I didn't feel like I had the self discipline, but I also felt the call to ministry. So I ended up with ministry, but I always was creating [00:16:00] something, whether it was painting or drawing or crocheting or collaging.

It's always come out and I found it to be especially helpful for meditation or prayer. There are so many things that can be done. The dolls actually end up like prayer shawls. Most of them have been created specifically for a An individual that I know or I might start creating the doll and not know who it's for until I'm partway through and go, oh, this is for so and so.

They have Arabic, Hindu, English, Welsh German names, they're international.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: International cast of characters.

Evon Lloyd: exactly, exactly. And the stories that go with them.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Then that goes to , those who receive them, that everybody is, unique and has a different thing that is going to be speaking to them. 

Evon Lloyd: I also consult my Color Your Life book and connect the [00:17:00] colors of the clothing or the hair with a particular characteristic or more of what I'm trying to support maybe in the person that is going to or that I see in them to enhance that.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: So I'm gonna ask you a personal question. So with the doll that you created for me, Owen you said that, that the colors that you chose were blue and purple. So could you say why you chose those colors for me?

Evon Lloyd: Shama Vyata always is accompanied by a butterfly. And that is, new life, that's creation, that's, you know, the change and transformation.

So. For a clergy person, , that's pretty significant for us when we think of Eastern Resurrection. The color blue for wisdom, I believe that's something you possess but also are a channel for in your ministry. The purple, the royalty as the [00:18:00] priesthood of all believers the child of God, you know, the whole dignity aspect.

 I did a massive amount of colors for yours, and that was the creativity, , this explosion of creativity was what was happening there and you are so creative the Welsh background, the painting, the music, all of that's there.

So there's this explosion of creativity for you in Owen.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: And I so appreciate that. As I, stepped into this last year, a new setting in ministry. I really have to say that I have felt a resurgence of creativity in a lot of different areas of life. And so whenever I look at this beautiful Awan, I will be like, okay. There's a way forward. That cauldron of creativity is, there available to me in this work that I'm, called to do to extend more and more love into a [00:19:00] world that so much needs it.

Evon Lloyd: Yeah, it's wonderful. I love the image of a bubbling cauldron steam and the bubble and the air and . Effusive flow of creative inspiration.

You mentioned some folks that you've shared your doll with have said, Oh, how can we find one, or how can we get I have decided that if folks want them, and I don't know that person that I have a questionnaire, they need to fill out so that I know something about them in order to create.

, a custom made one of a kind specifically for that person. So, eventually, that may become possible, as to the book. I've been also just gifting the book. I have had people who said I want another 1 and then I've charged for that.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Wonderful. I am so grateful for the time for us to talk together and to really give folks an [00:20:00] opportunity to engage with your very creative and beautiful spirit.

Evon Lloyd: Well, thank you.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: I kind of have a sense that, , in our world today, there are folks that might be tentative to embrace creativity or new life because of concerns or worry they may hold. But I wanted to give this word back to you, Evon, and to our listeners as a blessing and an invitation for this new year and this invitation to let the real meaning of St.

Valentine of being persistent in those actions of love. So I'm going to share Shabba Beata's Say Embrace New Life. With you as a blessing as to our listeners. Embrace means hug and to take something in, learn new things, and explore where you have never been. Watch as life grows, [00:21:00] bugs, plants, animals, and the baby next door, your life will be full of wonder and so much more when you want to be hugged as someone hugs you.

How do you feel when something new and exciting happens? How do you feel? What would be something you would like to learn that you've never done before? So I hope that this is a word of encouragement to number one, recognize how you are feeling today, you know, for you Evon, for me, for those that are listening and to think about New life as we take steps closer and closer and closer to spring, I promise the light is getting greater, but eventually the spring will be here and new life, that season of new life will be so evident around us.

Any last words that [00:22:00] you would like to share with our listeners, Evon?

Evon Lloyd: If you're interested in creating and creating as part of growth and life be brave. step out, try something new or do something that you really love and really make it happen. I just think that's part of. Connecting with the whole divine spirit of life for the entire universe.

So, be part of the universe. Be who you are.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: If folks are trying to find you online, where can they find you?

Evon Lloyd: The easiest place is Facebook. That's the only place right now. I do have a page called Evon's Meditations in Color. Mashama Beata is not there, but other things are. So at this point, it's Facebook. I'm not really out in public beyond that at this point. 

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: That's all right. Well, I just want to say thank you so much for celebrating Valentine's Day with me in this special [00:23:00] way with Shama Beata and with you, Evon. Thank you for your time and thank you so much for sharing your creative efforts of love in the world so generously.

We are so glad to call you part of this holy shenanigans family.

Evon Lloyd: I appreciate it a great deal. Thank you, Tara. You're doing great things.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Oh, thank you. Well, thank you so much friends for listening to holy shenanigans podcast and learning all about what Shama Beata says in giving us the world. I am your holy shenanigans muse. Tara Lamont Eastman. Thank you for joining us this week for Holy Shenanigans that surprise, encourage, redirect, invite new life, and even when it goes upside down, know that it is always in the name of love.

This is an unpredictable spiritual adventure that is always sacred and never stuffy. Thanks to Ian Eastman for sound production and [00:24:00] editing. If you would like to help Holy Shenanigans podcast continue, Support us at www. buymeacoffee. com backslash Tara L. Eastman. Until next time, may the words of Shama Beata inspire you to share more and more love in the world.