A New Hobby: Web Design

You may have noticed that I’ve been posting less frequently on this site over the last few weeks. Since early May, I’ve been going through a professional transition, leaving my previous job (working for a Unitarian Universalist nonprofit) and looking for a new position. This has been exciting, as I have been considering new professional opportunities.

I’ve also been enjoying long conversations with friends, spending time with family and pursuing a new hobby—web design.

I became interested in learning website design after launching this site, which uses a lovely template designed by Connie Veneracion and made available for free download online. However, as I became more involved in this website, I wanted to be able to better control how it looked. By learning a bit of CSS, I’ve been able to make a few changes that fit the purpose and content of Looking for Faith. I’ve also been reading books about HTML and CSS, visiting design websites, and picking up magazines on digital design. Although what I’ve learned so far is modest, it has rekindled in me my longtime love for visual arts, and has made me curious how visual arts are incorporated into websites.

This concern for design has a religious element as well. When I go to church for Sunday worship, my sense of connectedness with God is inspired in part by the interior design of the building. Watching the sun stream in through the tall glass windows and dance across the sanctuary walls soothes me. As I gaze towards the pulpit, my eyes take in the small quilted tapestries with spiral patterns that hang on either side. The visual elements of the sanctuary are a part of its sacredness.

The same level of attention should apply to designing religious websites. Stunning images, pleasing colors, and an overall sense of harmony can help convey a sense of wonder and joy. Website creators can use good design to convey their sense of the divine.

So although I have been writing less often, I have been enjoying many blessings in my spiritual life. My rekindled interest in visual arts is helping me to think creatively about spirituality, and to better understand how spiritual ideas can be expressed. This experience has been for me an affirmation of the idea I explored in an earlier post, that transitions can be times of discovering “there’s more.” In this case, I’ve found there’s more that inspires me, more that I can learn about, and more that I can use to communicate about spiritual life.