You’ve got to deconstruct the old to make room for the new, whether it’s a hallway or a soul. Or, in the case of writers, a rough draft. Or, in the case of climate change, old energy dependencies. Or, in the case of a broken democracy, old complacencies.
Repaint! Repent! Revise! Read More »
Jeanne Audrey, unlike me, thrived on conflict. I remember her at the Re-Imagining Conferences in the mid-nineties, the gatherings by which feminism hit the mainline denominations like a train wreck; Jeanne Audrey sniffed out the conservative infiltrators and press reps, brought them coffee, and engaged them in lengthy, honest, and disconcertingly intimate conversations. By the end of the day they were exchanging phone numbers. Jeanne Audrey was fearsome in her ability to transform enemies into friends.
The Beauty of Embracing Opposites Read More »
Isn’t curiosity marvelous? Something sparks your interest, and you’re off—questioning, learning, exploring, pondering. Say you meet someone new, share a bit about yourself, and they’re genuinely curious; suddenly you’re deep in conversation, sharing details about yourself or your work that you rarely otherwise disclose, and you begin to wonder whether this person might become a
The Gifts of Being Curious Read More »
The spiritual path requires letting go of what doesn’t give us life and giving ourselves wholly to what does. From the outside this can look dire, but from the inside the story’s quite different.
Freedom in Constriction Read More »
The story itself—the emergent life inside the inspiration—is a dynamic participant in the creative process.
How does creation happen? Read More »
A few years ago, I set off on a journey to the heart of Christian contemplation, both in practice and with studies. I began doing Centering Prayer, a form of meditation rooted in monasticism and the teachings of the mystics, and reading works from the mystical margins of Christian tradition—St. John of the Cross, Meister
God as Being, Being as God Read More »
Just as language can never fully represent me on the page, I, in all my thinking, breathing, creating glory, can never fully represent my ultimate Self. And so I let the little me go.
Developing the Inner Witness Read More »
None of us, it turns out, are separate, siloed identities. We’re all mash-ups of each other.
Boiled Down to a Drop Read More »
Each and every one of us ordinary people has the capacity to create beauty.
Attending the Lotus Read More »
Mindfulness in our ordinary lives is an effort, albeit worthwhile, but the natural world will make that effort for us if we allow it.
Be Where Your Feet Are Read More »