Category Archives: Uncategorized

There is a pair of lines from Ada Limón’s beautiful poem “Banished Wonders” that I can’t stop thinking about: Mistral writes: I killed a woman in me: one I did not love. But I do not want to kill that longing woman in me. I love her and I want her to go on longingContinue reading “Loving the Longing”

This has been a year filled with big things for me: big grief and big healing, change and growing joy. Devastation and renewal are somehow sitting side by side. I have found it quite baffling. How do I make space to attend to it all? When someone asks how I’m doing, I struggle to answer.Continue reading “At the Table”

About ten years ago, I went through one of the most overwhelming periods of my life. I was very sick and in the process of being diagnosed with a chronic illness, and it was also one of the busiest times of my life. I was exhausted and afraid and completely uncertain how I would makeContinue reading “The Pack”

I know a wonderful little four year old who loves to collect little bits of everything. One day this spring he scooped up violets, buds from maple trees, a fallen husk from a magnolia bud, a stick, and a few other odds and ends. He kept collecting items and showing them to me, exclaiming overContinue reading “The Wisdom of Delight”

I was processing a memory with my therapist recently, and I realized that I was being quite hard on myself. Looking back, I kept focusing on how much better I could have done in that context, the choices I could have made, and the healthier outlooks and habits of self I could have engaged. AllContinue reading “A Trellis and a Measuring Stick”

There is a three year old in my life who recently had an enormous lunchtime meltdown while we were together. After sitting him in my lap and trying a few different things to resolve the series of tantrums (spoiler, it was only truly resolved by a nap), I finally gave him three options for movingContinue reading “Magical Options”

Recently I was following a prayer prompt from my spiritual director, and while I was praying a very pesky word popped up: gentleness. God wanted to talk to me about gentleness. And what’s worse, God didn’t mean God’s own loving, patient, merciful gentleness towards me. Oh no, God meant my gentleness. Ugh. Yes, it isContinue reading “Gentleness”

Deep in the middle of the Covid winter, I found myself turning to a familiar passage, Philippians 4:6-7: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds inContinue reading “Held Safe”

One of the great challenges and joys of my life has been learning to find and cultivate meaning in all of the spaces I find myself in. I’m a bit of a dreamer, so it isn’t very easy for me to stay rooted in the moment. I don’t actually think it comes all that naturallyContinue reading “Here”

This morning, I baked a pumpkin loaf. I had sourdough discard and pumpkin puree to use up, so I figured, “why not?” But it felt quite strange and incongruous as I mixed the batter and popped it into the oven. Outside, the sun is shining, the daffodils blooming, and spring is afoot. Inside, the warm,Continue reading “Good Friday”