This past Sunday was one of those days that held the startling juxtaposition of the beauty and sorrow of life. As Francis Weller writes, "Our task as adults is to be stretched wide by grief and gratitude." We hold one in each hand. My morning began playing with…
Recently I shared a Saturday afternoon with Eugena Maguire, a delightful social worker and parent coach, as we recorded a conversation for her "Unpacking Depression" podcast. Our conversation stretched over the course of the afternoon - one of those delicious meetings that could go on and on for…
Today I took my dogs for a walk, traipsing our normal loop of squirrel hunting and owl spotting, ending in a bout of enthusiastic stick fetching in the nearby pond. It is sunny and hot right now in Texas – over 100 degrees hot – and I took off my shoes and…
"Even the bird with a broken wing is a prayer." - Ashley Gates Jansen Every oak tree holds within it the acorn, the bud of longing and becoming. And every acorn holds the whisper of the promised oak, grand perennial. But sometimes the acorn does not blossom but…
Holiday music is some of my favorite music. I'm known to listen to Silent Night in the height of summer as well as the depths of winter. And, oh that line in O Holy Night: “and the soul felt its worth.” No matter what spiritual path we travel…
"Pain travels through families until someone is ready to feel it." -Stephi Wagner Editor's note: This essay was written in honor of World Mental Health Day, which takes place on October 10th each year. And today, October 12th, the day when I've finished the…
I wonder: have you ever had the unique privilege of hosting lice in your home? We've hosted these guests twice. Travelers from school lockers, crowded hallways and backpacks, these visitors arrived one spring week with a warning, a note from the school nurse. For weeks we had daily…
'Lacrimae rerum,' according to one of my teachers, was a Latin phrase chanted by monks in the wee hours of the night, when the veils between body and soul are the thinnest. This phrase can be translated as 'the tears of things,' or the 'tears…