This Letter Arrived When I Needed It Most

Have you ever had a week where you questioned whether your work even mattered?

In this deeply personal episode, CJ Miller shares a raw recording captured just minutes after receiving a handwritten letter from a young artist on the West Coast who had read his book, The Spiritual Artist. The unexpected letter arrived during a week filled with doubt, uncertainty, and questions about purpose. What CJ discovered inside the envelope moved him to tears.

The letter speaks about creativity, surrender, solitude, spiritual identity, emotional sensitivity, and the longing to create from something deeper than recognition or success. It also reflects on artists like Kandinsky and Georgia O’Keeffe, the pull of New Mexico, and the search for a more meaningful artistic life.

This episode is not polished.
 It’s human.

A conversation about what happens when something you create quietly reaches another person in a profound way.

Sometimes we never know if our words, paintings, podcasts, or presence matter.

And then one day…
 a letter arrives.

Want to learn more about CJ Miller? Check out his Spiritual Artist Retreats, 1:1 Personal Coaching, and Speaking Engagements at www.spiritualartisttoday.com. His retreats are designed to help you reconnect with your Creative Intelligence and express your true artistic voice. You can also find his upcoming schedule there, and his book, The Spiritual Artist, is available on Amazon.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Good day, spiritual artists. This is C.J. Miller, and I'll be honest with you, I really hesitated releasing this clip. It's something that I recorded 10 minutes after I received a surprising letter in the mail. And the letter really moved me. It was a young person on the West Coast that had read my book and totally absorbed it. And the notes were so compelling it made me, well, you'll see, it made me cry. Um, have you ever had a a week where you doubt yourself, where you wonder, do I make a difference? And what I'm doing really important, is what I'm doing really important? That was last week, and when I got this letter, it brought me to tears. So let me tell you what happened this week. In the middle of all this, what just happened? I go to my front door, and there is a big envelope leaning against the door, and it says as a return address, and I'll show it to you. It says your spiritual friend. And I'm like, who is this? Who is this? I open it up, and there is the most incredible letter. There's the most incredible letter in there that really moved me. It's a it's a young person reaching out to me from another state. I'm not gonna share the name, but it says, Dear Chris, and I want to read some of this to you because as you can tell, I guess if you just reach one person like this, if that's all I do in my life is help one person, it's worth it, right? So she says, I had to write you to say thank you for your wonderful book. The spiritual artist. There are many parts in the book from beginning to end that made me both emotional and confident. Our creator has always played a major role in my life. I was not raised in a church, I was taught by my mother to connect to God Almighty through spirit from an early age. Art has always been a part of my life, first in the form of writing, then graphic design, and then traditionally with paint. The issue that I've had for the longest time, my creations felt meaningless. Deep down inside, I knew I needed to do more with my art. The typical individual sees art as solely visual appeal. People don't understand any further than that. There is a reason why creations like abstract art are unrecognizable. People's souls and spirits are embedded in those canvas. I truly believe that art is one of the most intimate forms of self-expression and communication. Trying to understand is overrated. The goal is to observe and absorb. I'm going to read that to you again. I can't believe this young person in their twenties has such insight. Trying to understand is overrated. The goal is to observe and absorb. I didn't understand this until I made the decision to combine my spirituality with my art. I've been on a rampage picking up books for the for the first time in years and actually reading again. I read uh Kasuma's autobiography. I read Wasili Kadinsky. After reading his concern concerning the spiritual art, my desire to learn grew more tremendously. That's when I stumbled upon your book, and I can confidently say that you are one of the most inspiring teachers without ever having met you. I gotta take a breath, sorry, y'all. Reading your book helped me put a stamp on what I've been searching for for a long time. Pursuing a spiritual and artistic lifestyle. I couldn't paint or create art like everyone else, and I knew why. I was leaving out my spirit. I realized that I'm a spiritual artist. I used to struggle with meditation, mainly out of laziness, but it was you that reminded me how important, quote, spending time in the gap was to receive authentic creative inspiration. I am a highly emotional person, reading that my emotions are not me, that I am still that calm person at my spiritual center reminded me that most things in life are temporary and do not define me. Solitude is a major concept that was already introduced to me by my mother. I very much agree with you that solitude is necessary to rejuvenate the soul, especially when life calls for so many chaotic and stressful adventures. Yes, it can be difficult at times, because by nature, we were never created to be alone. But you are right, it is definitely more important that we marinate in alone time from time to time. Another great concept that I enjoyed reading about in your book was learning to surrender. Most of us fall into the trap of let me hurry up and make this so I can make money and garner recognition. I am currently in that trap. But after finishing your book today, I will be going home and surrendering. I am going to surrender to the canvas and I'm going to surrender my anxiety to God wholeheartedly. I'm going to say that again because that's really powerful. I am going to surrender to the canvas and I'm going to surrender my anxiety to God wholeheartedly. I will take my time with my portfolio and stop worrying about things that do not matter. I have to remind myself that although it is an artist's dream for creation to be their source of income, I do not create because of that. I create because I truly desire to express my spirit, my soul, and my emotions. I create because it is another wholesome activity that brings me closer to God. I create because that is my identity, whether I ever make money from it or not. Thanks again for showing me what I needed to focus on. People like you are truly gifts to humanity. Hmm. I had to share that with you. And as you can tell, it moved me. It's funny, isn't it? You send out something, you send a question out to the creative field of intelligence, and you say, Hey, am I doing what I should be doing? Should I be doing something else? And suddenly, suddenly things just start popping up and answer that question. Good or bad? Good or bad. And this obviously is very good. And I think to myself, wow, this person got it. They got the book. Some people try to read the book, they'll get a couple chapters in because you know what? This takes work. I want to share this with you. This isn't just fun. So it's not scribble scrabble. It's inquiry. It's looking at yourself. It's reflecting on who you are. It's being willing to take out all the parts of you, the messy parts of you, the parts of you that are fear-based and judgmental and competitive and in me insecure. And say, hmm, is little CJ being really insecure here? Does he need to have some praise? Does he need to have feedback? Yeah, I guess, I guess little CJ does. But by looking at that, we can grow better. So when you are a spiritual artist, it's not just about fun. It's not just about coming on retreats and bonding with other people and then going home and continuing on with your life. It is about taking every aspect of yourself out and saying, uh, I developed this pattern to survive a mother who was overbearing, or I developed this pattern to survive an abusive childhood with my father, or whatever it is, and then say, Do I still need the pattern? Do I still need to do this? Or can I stop being so needy? That's for a little CJ's sake, right there. Can I stop being so needy? Do I have to have a letter like this? No, I don't. I don't. But boy, thank you, God. Thank you, Spirit, for hearing me. As always, you do. Spirit always hears you. And then the funny thing was, just yesterday, right before I got this letter, I get a random phone call from someone that has also watched a podcast and been moved. An artist on the other end of his life, an older artist who's been painting his whole life and says, I love this message, this spiritual message, and I want to talk to you more about it. Hmm. You know what? Age doesn't matter. I want you to hear that. Age doesn't matter. They're never too old to learn these lessons. You're never too young to learn these lessons. You're never too young or old to be a spiritual artist, but you have to do the work. You have to be willing to unpack and look at yourself and with clear eyes and say, okay, these are the patterns. This is who I am. This is how I paint. This is the patterns of my life. This is how I think. Because this is why my challenge is so hard with these social media outlets. You know, they only want you to be one thing. I want to show you how to hold a brush. Well, you know what? It's more than holding a brush. It's how you think about holding the brush. It's how you think about holding your body. It's about the tension in your body. It's about all that. So I'm going to divide my message up a little bit just to help these social algorithms work a little better for me. You can always find this podcast. I'm still going to do it. I love talking to people. I love inquiry. It's key to me. It's key to me. I keep growing every time I talk to a new person. They open me up. I'm going to keep doing my talks with you because I love sharing with you. I love reaching out and I love connecting with people about uh aligning and listening. How do you do it? How do you align before you go into the studio? I'm going to start talking to you about that. How do you listen to spirit talking to you? How do you hear the voice in your head? How do you hear that guidance or the voice you feel physically? I'm going to start doing that on my YouTube channel. If you want to see manifested creativity, you have to follow my new channel, Spiritual Artist Create. Okay? I'll put the link in the description here so you can follow that channel too if you want. You don't have to follow all three. You might be just interested in hearing the thoughts, or you might just like the CJ that talks to other people. Or you might like the CJ that sits there and doodles and talks to you about why it's such a wonderful practice. Whatever it is, there's a channel for you. Or best yet, go get the book and read it, commit to it, do the work. Do the work because it will change you. And I want to thank this person for reaching out to me. It moved me very much. So go out there, be willing to do the work, be willing to inquire, be willing to look at yourself, take off the rose-colored glasses and look at yourself truthfully. Look at your little self, not your spirit self, because your spirit self is perfect right now. Go out there and be a perfect spiritual artist. Talk to you soon on the spiritual artist podcast. Thanks. Thanks again for listening to the Spiritual Artist Podcast. Whether you're watching this show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play, or iHeartRadio, make sure you choose the subscribe button so that you will receive updates when new segments are released. Most importantly, be still, listen, and know that you are a spiritual artist.