IMPORTANT UPDATE
As of April 2024, my blog has moved over to Substack where I’m co-hosting A Tender Space (together with my business partner at Centre for Holding Space). You can find my new writing plus podcast episodes there, or sign up below to get them in your inbox.
Here’s some of my earlier writing…
What it means to “hold space” for people, plus eight tips on how to do it well
When my mom was dying, my siblings and I gathered to be with her in her final days. None of us knew anything about supporting someone in her transition out of this life into the next, but we were pretty sure we wanted to keep her at home, so we did. While we supported...
Creating containers for meaningful conversation – Eight tips for everyday situations
If you want to make a tasty soup, you don't throw your ingredients onto the stove and hope they somehow transform themselves into a soup. Instead, you choose the right container that will hold all of the ingredients and allow room for the soup to boil without bubbling...
Before you act, listen
Ever since facilitating a conversation on race relations last week, I've been thinking about what it means to really listen. There were many challenges for me last week, and some of the greatest challenges were those that showed me how much deeper I need to take my...
The White Man’s Rules: Addressing Indavertent Colonialism (even in myself)
“The moment we commit ourselves to going on this journey, we start to encounter our three principal enemies: the voice of doubt and judgment (shutting down the open mind), the voice of cynicism (shutting down the open heart), and the voice of fear (shutting down the...
This is my Winnipeg: addressing racism with open hearts
What do you do when your city has been named the "most racist in Canada"? Some people get defensive, pick holes in the article, and do everything to prove that the label is wrong. Some people ignore it and go on living the same way they always have. And some people...
Cracked open by a sweat lodge
I want to tell you about last weekend's sweat lodge, but each time I sit down to write something, I delete it. The words just don’t come out right. This was an experience beyond words. What I'm about to share doesn't come close to expressing it, but it's the closest...
Pilgrimage of Desire: An interview with author Alison Gresik
A few nights ago, I was reading in bed when my husband turned to me and said "It must be a good book. You haven't taken your nose out of it all evening." He was right - it IS a good book. It's called Pilgrimage of Desire: An Explorer's Journey Through the Labyrinths...
Invitation of the drum
Today I was handed a drum, and that may be the most important thing that happens to me all week. Maybe even all year. All week, I have been wrestling with what my role is in the healing and reconciliation in our city. Because it matters. Because I want to live in a...
A personal post about becoming a change-maker
“The success of our actions as change-makers does not depend on what we do or how we do it, but on the inner place from which we operate.” - Otto Sharmer Last week, the city that I love and call home was named "the most racist city in Canada." That hurt. It felt like...
The woman I’m becoming – not perfect, but satisfied
Last night I hosted a circle of women on Skype, and at the beginning of the call I read this poem: Finding her here by Jayne Brown I am becoming the woman I've wanted, grey at the temples, soft body, delighted, cracked up by life with a laugh that's known bitter but,...
Shawnigan Lake, B.C.
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