Art, Death, and Spiritual Care With Jennifer Hamilton
“The privilege of just having the capacity to physically do the art or the music, that’s a huge gift. Because I meet people all the time who have a lot of responsibilities and a lot of setbacks, because I’m in the public health system. So, I get to see people that really are struggling and suffering. And I don’t think all of our suffering is equal. I think there are some people who have to suffer a lot. And it’s not really fair. It doesn’t make any sense. There’s nothing that those people are doing that is making it as though they deserve to suffer. They’re just being human here, and they have whatever setbacks they’re being dealt. And so, I’m lucky that up until now, I haven’t had huge physical setbacks, or if I’ve had financial setbacks, I’ve had safety nets, and I’ve actually been gifted a lot of things in my life in terms of the ability to have time to make art.”
—Jennifer Hamilton
Jennifer Hamilton is a prolific and ignited visual artist, musician, theology scholar, and spiritual caregiver. Her paintings take you on a colourful, embodied, and mystical journey through ritualized inspiration and sacred geometry. Jennifer is deeply connected to the spiritual seekers and artists who came before her. She derives great inspiration from ancient texts and practices, and her special muse Hilma af Klint. In addition to a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Jennifer has her diploma in fashion design and a Bachelor of Theology.
Jennifer could have been a bunch of things when she grew up, and that’s kind of what happened. But these days, she is working as a spiritual caregiver in Montreal hospitals. Her current projects seek to explore this world of spiritual care through painting and ritualized reflection.
Jennifer is also a generous fan of This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life and I think this episode was a dream come true for both of us.
Jennifer Hamilton on This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life
00:00 Intro song and bio
2:34 Quick and very fun break! Don’t forget to follow This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life on the platforms. Bonus points for five-star reviews. And please also follow Erica and Jen on Instagram and across the interwebs.
Jen on Instagram: @vitalonga
Jen’s website: jenniferhamilton.com
Erica on Instagram: @erica.j.schmidt
Erica’s website: ericajschmidt.com
4:00 Interview starts! Question one is about growing up in a small town. Does this cause special person syndrome, as per Erica’s theory? Jen shares about her creative origins, her aspirational art teacher Mona Istrati-Mulhern (worththeirsalt.ca), and Jen’s light responsibilities as a gifted child in Goderich, Ontario. PS, Jen’s Catholic school was called, St. Anne's Clinton | Renewing The Promise - Joyful Disciples (huronperthcatholic.ca), and it’s the reason she’s so great at French!
14:23 Sacred Texts and Art Practices: Jen talks about the rituals and step-by-step “recipes” that guide her art projects.
17:34 Jen describes, Alters of the directions, her most complex “recipe,” where she followed a version of Lectio Divina or “divine reading” a systematic process of reading and responding to spiritual texts. Hit up the full show notes on Erica’s website for some stunning images of Jen’s work.
20:43 It’s so soothing to have a structure! And yet, Erica reveals her great resistance to writing prompts. For example, “Write a story that features a rhinoceros and grapefruit and ends with the word reflect.” Jennifer Hamilton thinks she would also struggle with this sort of assignment.
22:08 Jen is gifted an Emotional Freedom Tapping Retreat in Tuscany, where a moment in an olive grove inspired her to go back to school. Her program of choice: Bachelor of Theology (B.Th.) at McGill University. Jen studied at the United Church Studies at Montreal Dio where she discovered the art and practice of spiritual care.
Learn how to tap the day away with the Emotional Freedom Technique here: World Tapping Circle - Home
37:49 Even though they are not wildly rich, Erica and Jen discuss their hot, single, zero-child, educated white women privilege. A lot of people overestimate Jen’s privilege since she is quite talented at buying designer clothes at the Salvation Army. Also, she is much more gracious than most when it comes to acknowledging her luck and good fortune. But we talk about the health, time, materials, and money that help us dive into elaborate projects. And how the opportunities simply aren’t equal, and there just isn’t any reasonable reason for this.
45:08 Listener question from Good Friends Don’t Make Good Roommates. Our listener’s friend Sara is hard-up and wants to crash at her pad for “a couple of months.” GFDMGR is concerned this will put a massive strain on their friendship, especially since Sara loves to party and GFDMGR needs her alone time. Sara says she’s being a bad friend for saying no. Is she a jerk? What should she do? Jennifer Hamilton and Erica can’t fix it—but this one is kind of a no-brainer.
53:14 Morning, creative, and cleaning routines, plus, if Jennifer Hamilton could distill and transform her life into a spectacular TED talk, what would the title and topic be?
1:05 Half bad ukulele segment: In the Pines. Sing and play along with this tab! If it sounds weird, try your Capo on one! But most importantly, remember, The same old train that brought me here, will soon take us all away.
Gosh that was fun, fun, fun! Infinite thanks to Jennifer Hamilton!
Links and Recommended Episodes
One more reminder to follow Jennifer Hamilton on Instagram @vitalonga and check out her website at jenniferhamilton.com
Erica is on Facebook or Instagram, and her website is at ericajschmidt.com. You can also make her day by sending her a listener question to any of these places.
And if you enjoyed this episode, you will love: Art, Drugs, and Meditation With James Paterson, Curiosity With Michelle Syba, Caroline and Erica Can’t Fix It—But We Have Thoughts.
Jen would like to thank the APTS union who work tirelessly to uphold workers rights in Quebec’s healthcare system.
Listener Question from Good Friends Don’t Make Good Roommates
Dear Erica and Jen,
So, here’s the situation. I have been in a nice one-bedroom apartment for the past couple of years. My best friend "Sara" has always struggled with money management, and recently, she was evicted from her apartment because she couldn’t pay rent. She reached out to me asking if she could stay with me for a “couple of months” until she gets back on her feet.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Sara. We’ve been friends for over 10 years, but the thing is, I’ve helped her out financially more times than I can count. I lent her money to cover bills, her car payments, and even her rent once. She’s never paid me back. Every time I’ve asked, she’s given excuses or says she’s still struggling. I don’t want to be taken advantage of again.
On top of that, I’m a bit of a homebody, and I really value my personal space. I’m worried that if she moves in, it’ll end up becoming a permanent situation, and I’ll be stuck living with her. Plus, we have very different lifestyles—she’s super extroverted, always has people over, and stays up late. Meanwhile, I’m more introverted and need peace and quiet, especially after work.
I offered to help her find a cheaper place to stay and even said I’d loan her some money to get started, but she got upset and said that as her best friend, I should just let her crash at my place. Now, she’s been giving me the cold shoulder and even told some of our mutual friends that I’m being a bad friend for not helping her in her time of need.
Is this true? Am I a total jerk? I feel bad, but I don’t want to be stuck in a situation that’ll make me uncomfortable or strain our friendship further. Please help.
Love, Good Friends Don’t Make Good Roommates
THANK YOU, WITH LOVE
Thank you so much for listening! To support this independent podcast, please consider purchasing a Lil and Bud dog greeting card at ericajschmidt.com/merch. You can also make a one-time donation here at The Donate Button. Feel free to get in touch for other sponsorship possibilities. My infinite thanks for all of this.
More infinite thanks, as always, to Taes Leavitt (darling big sister, Big Heart Journey), Sherwin Tjia (technical and creative advisor, Sherwin’s Quirky Events, Episode 22) and my dearly departed aunt Eileen Gun, whose generous gift helped to fund my new podcast equipment.
And infinite thanks to you, my dear listeners! Stay tuned for more episodes extra soon. Don’t forget to follow This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life on your favourite podcast platform. And if you enjoyed the episode, I would be immensely grateful if you could share it with a friend and/or leave a kind and enthusiastic rating and review.
