Brain Jam, Spilled Emotion and a Butterfly

by | Jun 22, 2020 | animals, beauty, conflict, creativity, harmony, heart, hope, imagination, life-giving, listening, messages, mind, modern life, nature, overwhelm, rejuvenation, self-care, senses, surprise, transformation, Uncategorized, vulnerability, wonder

Joy is the gift of love. Grief is the price of love. Anger protects that which is loved. And when we think we have reached our limit, wonder is the act that returns us to love.                                                    Valarie Kaur, See No Stranger   My...

A Question to Ponder on Earth Day in a Pandemic

by | Apr 21, 2020 | affinity, balance, beauty, childhood, communication, conflict, connection, dreams, earth, heart, imagination, life-giving, light, messages, mind, modern life, nature, pandemic, poetry, possibilities, self-reflection, shadow, spirit, Uncategorized, vision

A Sign (a poem by Connie Wanek)   At the March for Science on Earth Day, 2017   What did it say?” God asked.   Well, first I should describe the day,” Mrs. God replied. “It reminded me of creation, an early tender morning, pure light, the air thin, and...

Respite from the Mind

by | Oct 29, 2019 | affinity, autumn, balance, beauty, body wisdom, breath, clearing, connection, creativity, darkness, earth, expansion, freedom, Halloween, imagination, life-giving, listening, magic, mind, nature, possibilities, practice, rejuvenation, seasons, senses, silence, singing, soul, spirit, the feminine, wonder, words

I’ve just returned home from several enchanted days on Lake Superior. My greedy mind — muted for awhile by movement, story, song, beauty, affection, and silence — now wants to read mail, catch up on national news, make necessary appointments, resume tasks set...

Images of Insecurity

by | Sep 27, 2019 | affinity, amusement, artistic expression, balance, body wisdom, clearing, conflict, creativity, freedom, heart, imagination, inner critic, intuition, light, listening, mind, noise, play, possibilities, rejuvenation, self-care, shadow, stories, transformation, Uncategorized, vulnerability

Until a few days ago I was at a retreat center in upstate New York. Twenty women and the facilitator, Jalaja Bonheim, came together for a week, experiencing the powerful geometry of the circle, allowing sacred space and silence to fortify us and help us move from...

Lesson from a Horse: Part II

by | Jun 3, 2019 | affinity, animals, body wisdom, breath, communication, connection, growth, heart, intuition, life-giving, listening, messages, mind, modern life, possibilities, practice, senses, spirit, tenderness, transformation, Uncategorized, vision, vulnerability, wonder

Last year at this time I went to a daylong personal growth workshop with horses. In these workshops horses are not ridden; participants touch, lead and observe them. Powerful, gentle and extremely sensitive, horses are excellent mirrors because they attune to what our...

Looking and Not Talking

by | Jan 7, 2019 | affinity, artistic expression, balance, beauty, body wisdom, breath, communication, connection, creativity, harmony, heart, imagination, life-giving, listening, mind, modern life, nature, possibilities, rejuvenation, self-care, senses, silence, solitude, spirit, Uncategorized, vision, vulnerability, words, writing

  I’m hanging in a wordless space, even as I write these words. Recently home from a family trip on the Oregon coast for the holidays, I’m savoring all I saw and heard there: my family, of course; and also blustery winds and rain; thundering waves; squawking...