Philokalia
Mover - Innovator - catalyst
01 welcome
Hi! Thanks for being here.
I'm Michaela Barta, a native Texan
currently residing in the suburbs of Dallas.
After several rounds of burnout, I moved to Florida
in 2019 for a ministry called the Greenhouse Collective
and extended my stay. In the summer of 2024,
the Lord called me back to Texas, and I relocated to Dallas.
Things currently energizing me are adrenal cocktails,
Colombian decaf, bike rides + creative dinners with friends.
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Michaela Barta is a missionary of Divine Beauty.
She spends her days desiring to be moved and move others
to love beauty, goodness + truth.
With an extensive background in ministry and dance,
she seeks to incarnate truth through beauty by
dancing, teaching, creative writing, choreography + speaking.​​
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3 main ingredients I hope you'll find on this site are:
sparks of beauty, excellent resources
+ a pursuit of truth that is honest.
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What's Philokalia?
It's Ancient Greek: φιλοκαλία meaning "love of the beautiful, the good", from philia "love" and kallos "beauty." It's also a collection of writings
from monks and spiritual masters from the 4th - 15th centuries.
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"Indeed, an essential function of genuine beauty, as emphasized by Plato, is that it gives man a healthy 'shock,' it draws him out of himself, wrenches him away from resignation and from being content with the humdrum – it even makes him suffer, piercing him like a dart, but in so doing it “reawakens” him, opening afresh the eyes of his heart and mind, giving him wings, carrying him aloft."
-Pope Benedict XVI, Meeting with Artists
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02 about
03 passions + creative portfolio
04 more
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Fun Facts
My dream job is something that requires a lot of bravery.
Like being a mom or rescuing people who need it.
I also want to be a food critic.
I've had a slow, steady conversion from certified "glamper"
to backpacking across Spain in 2017.
I met a guy on the Camino de Santiago named David.
His house serves as one of the alburgues on the Primativo route. He greets his guests with hot tea and a home-cooked meal and rallies them to all wake at the same time. He plays guitar for everyone in the morning to replace an alarm clock. I would love to run an alburgue like David one day.
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Fun. So, what's the deal with beauty?
Jesus is a relentless pursuer, and my heart has been moved by Him countless times in the last 17 years. Whether He's called me to do mission work with NET Ministries, change my plans for the 4th time and get a dance degree or walk the Camino... His faithful kindness leads me to repentance. When I allow the Father to have control, He always provides the daily bread of beauty I need.
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The world in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair.
-Pope Benedict XVI
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He is the the Master Artist + Storyteller.
The Master Artist crafts wonder and beauty into every human being.
He also writes them into our stories. The story He and I are co-writing has enough beauty and redemption already to astound me forever.
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What about your story? Where has God woven beauty into it?
Authentic beauty can move us into incredible stillness, if we allow it.
I try to be in nature with people as much as possible, too,
because I know beauty heals.
It evangelizes us.
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Creativity > Consumption
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Like many creatives who love the Creator, I believe Beauty will continue saving the world. Jesus is Truth, Goodness + Beauty Incarnate. And even still, He desires us to join him in a creative mission. We were made to be creatives. Not consumers. We are made to engage creative processes.
It's not about more "doing."
When we are creating, we act in accordance with our very nature.
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Have you heard that the Holy Spirit is calling the Church to a New Renaissance? It's very exciting.
Like how Seb describes jazz to Mia in La La Land.
What do you think? Wanna know more? Stay tuned or reach out!
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More coming SOON.
