My dear friend Jen and I met in the bathroom of the Albertson's grocery store in the small town of Livingston, Montana on a hot summer day. We were both juggling one year old sons and preschool daughters as we made a bathroom trip - and recognized a…
I remember driving to a meeting through Austin traffic, winding along a stretch of road that's filled with stop lights. On that particular day, as I neared each light, it changed from green to yellow. And I'd left the house ten minutes after I'd…
This past weekend found me at the copy store, printing out flyers for my dear teacher. I drove to grocery stores and coffee shops, restaurants and health food stores to hang the posters on community bulletin boards. My car functions like my locker did in high school. It carries the…
This morning arose with a busy day ahead of me: back to back dental appointments for myself and my son, forgotten about in the blur of yesterday's holiday; stacked phone calls and a desk overflowing with papers and good intentions. In the midst of the pull to go…
The sunflowers wave as I step outside to cut parsley for the small red potatoes I've steamed for supper. When I miss my family, I cook their food. I mince onions and saute garlic in olive oil, add basil and tomatoes and simmer my grandmother's spaghetti…
A few years ago I began creating a "Book of Love," a psalter of the heart. I was watching my favorite TV show, Call the Midwife, and heard a quote that cracked me open: "God hugs you. You shine so finely it surpasses understanding. You are encircled…
Yesterday, in my monthly Soul Writer's Circle, we were asked to write a poem about embodiment. One prompt invited us to weave a scientific fact about the body with a story about the body. I remembered a statistic I'd heard, how our bodies are mostly not…
Images of elephants - trunk tied to trunk - have touched me ever since my mentor used this image to remind us of a helpful truth: that we are creatures of attachment. We belong to one another. This is never so true as when we are experiencing great pain or…