Hello…I’m Maggie, and I’m happy you’re here.
I’m in my third act of life, having enjoyed interesting careers as a magazine editor in my 20s, marketing director of a nonprofit in my 30s, self-employed spiritual director and life-purpose coach in my 40s, and senior minister of a Unity church in San Francisco in my 50s. (If you think I look younger than 64, thank you for that kind thought—I attribute part of that youthfulness to being the mother of an amazing 19-year-old college student, and also finding much to be curious about and to love about life!)
From this current vantage point, I see that connecting with Spirit through creative expression has been central to me through all of my journeys. A very helpful revelation about my path was given to me, ironically, when I was being heckled at a book signing for my 2013 book “Crafting Calm.” (It was the first and last time I’ve been heckled, over a crafting book no less, but there you have it.) A man in the audience kept asking me why I wrote the book. Each time he asked, I did my best to answer his question in different words—until finally something bubbled up from deep in my soul and I said, “Because I believe that everyone is creative—and we don’t have the luxury any more of believing that we’re not. The world needs our creativity—everyone’s creativity!”
So there I had it—a concise statement of my mission and my passion, and the subject I will be exploring for the rest of my years. But it’s not just creativity I’m interested in; it’s creativity as a spiritual practice. It’s making a connection with the Divine of your understanding through your creative expression. It’s about stoking your Creative Spirit; claiming your brilliance, your creativity, your magic—the vast potential we all have to transform our communities and beyond.
My goal in my work and life is to be a source of hope, encouragement, and inspiration. I love sharing ways in which people can discover and deepen their own Divine creativity. Above all, my desire is—as I used to say at the podium every Sunday in the Unity church I served for many years—to help you know that you matter, that you make a difference, and that the world is a better place because you’re here.
Discover and deepen your own Divine creativity.
A More Traditional Bio, For Those Who Might Want It:
The Reverend Maggie Oman Shannon, M.A., is an ordained Unity minister, workshop and retreat facilitator, artist, and the author of nine books: Prayers for Healing; The Way We Pray: Prayer Practices from Around the World; A String and a Prayer: How to Make and Use Prayer Beads (co-author); One God, Shared Hope; Prayers for Hope and Comfort; Crafting Calm: Projects and Practices for Creativity and Contemplation; Crafting Gratitude: Creating and Celebrating Our Blessings with Hands and Heart; Crafting Love: Sharing Our Hearts through the Work of Our Hands; and her latest, Have Hope: 365 Encouraging Poems, Prayers and Meditations for Daily Inspiration.
The former editor of three national magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post, Oman Shannon also served as Director of Marketing for the Institute of Noetic Sciences. In 2000, she founded The New Story, a coaching and consulting business focused on helping people to create deeper meaning in their lives. Her work has been featured in periodicals ranging from the San Francisco Chronicle to Spirituality and Health magazine; and she has taught workshops at venues including California Pacific Medical Center’s Institute for Health and Healing and Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York. A graduate of Smith College, Oman Shannon also holds a master of arts degree in Culture and Spirituality from Holy Names University. A 2010 graduate of Manhattan’s One Spirit Interfaith Seminary, she was ordained as a Unity minister in 2014. Oman Shannon served as the senior minister of Unity Spiritual Center of San Francisco for 12 years, and was named Minister Emeritus upon her retirement.
Other pursuits include having been the host of a weekly, hour-long radio show called “Creative Spirit” for three years; and becoming certified as an Intentional Creativity teacher in 2018 and as both a Cosmic Smash Book facilitator and a Soul Collage facilitator in 2020. The mother of an amazing daughter currently attending college on the East Coast, she lives in San Francisco with her husband and two black cats.
