For at least twenty years, I have enjoyed walking labyrinths. Labyrinths are maze-like structures that have been used as spiritual tools for centuries. For the past nine years, I’ve been walking labyrinths throughout the northeastern United States, and blogging about them. To learn more about labyrinths, check out this page at the Labyrinth Society. To find labyrinths near you, try the Worldwide Labyrinth Locator.

A few weeks ago, I was walking a bunch of labyrinths in Westchester County, New York. I headed to the sixth one of the day, at the Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Chappaqua. The labyrinth is a seven-circuit classical, with a dirt path and rock walls. There was lots of shade on this hot day, and pine needles all over the path. The church’s website has a very nice description of the history of this labyrinth.

At my previous labyrinth, I considered trying something new – writing science fiction – to creatively work through some of my emotions. Now I was wondering if there might be other creative outlets that might be worth exploring. So my question was, What other creative avenues might I explore, beyond writing?

Words are my palette, I quickly realized. Other forms of artistic and creative expression, like visual arts or music, might be good recreation for me, but words are the way I get my feelings out. But there are avenues beyond blogging and journaling, my usual outlets.

There are stories. And poetry. Lyrics. Sermons. Essays. Could I even record a podcast, or a video series of spoken word? Could I learn to do something like Word Jazz? Maybe. Those are all words. I can play around with the edges of words, but that’s what it is: words. Hey, The Edges of Words would be a cool title for that podcast.