Creative writing as an artform for self knowledge
A student’s journey and reflections through creative writing
I came to this Anthroposophy study year because I desperately needed a break, a reset, and a new way to look at the world. I had never read any of Roudolf Steiner's writings. I was aware of him because my daughter is a Waldorf early childhood educator and while she was in teacher training she would often call home and tell me how much she thought I would love the material she was studying. When she was in Germany working as a nanny and called to tell me how close she was to the Goetheanum and that they had study programs, I was intrigued. The more seriously I considered it, the more I felt that this was an important opportunity. I had had a rough few years that included losing a breast to cancer, being sanctioned by my professional organization for the crime of speaking out against corruption, and witnessing my country descend into cruelty, division and exploitation. I was out of love with humans!!
I have always had a personal relationship with Christ and was baptized Catholic but never went to church as a child, I attended services sporadically with friends in high school and even less often as an adult. Regardless of this lack of formal religious education I prayed regularly and always had a strong moral compass. I really leaned into prayer and spiritual questioning through these years of trial and I had been praying for a change of perspective. This opportunity felt divinely inspired and I made the bold and uncharacteristic decision to go for it.
Upon arrival I was most impacted by the beauty of this place. I grew up in nature, the newly civilized lands of the Pacific Northwest region of the United States about 200 drive miles west of Glacier National park and 60 miles south of the Canadian border. A land of mostly wild forest, where the native people left little footprint and outside of building railroads, roads, and harvesting timber my area was over 70% unmolested, sparsely populated and rural. This being my first time in Europe I was amazed at the integration of nature with modern human habitation and the beauty of the buildings of our past. I fell in love with the ermitage and all three castles within walking distance of campus. This is the type of respectful stewardship of the land I know to be more humane than the exploitation for profit that had been breaking my heart in my homeland.
The story of this heartbreak is long and complex and nobody has time for that so let me just promise to send you a copy of my book when I write it. In early February 2022 on a crisp, cold, sunny morning I sat down and wrote this … Poem, Fairy Tale? I had been in a place of deep anguish and spiritual conversation trying to understand what was going on and how to come to terms with it. I had not previously written anything of this nature, I did not compose multiple drafts, I completed this in a few short hours and changed very few details afterward. It felt divinely inspired and I have yet to read it aloud without shedding tears, even three years later, because it so clearly expresses my authentic experience at that time.
Kristina Kingsland, USA - Anthroposophy Studies on Campus, 2025