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…
The ups and downs on the teacher’s path
The past couple of weeks, my energy has been consumed mostly with the two effective written communication classes I'm teaching at the university. That path has taken me through some interesting terrain lately, with a lot of ups and downs. Discovering plagiarism......
Markers along the path
Behind this stone marker, at kilometre 99 on the Camino de Santiago in Spain, is a note for me. About a month ago, my friend Andrew left it there specially for me, hoping that some day when I walk the Camino, I'll find it. Even if I don't find it - if weather or mice...
Creative grief
I have become an intimate friend of grief. As a young child, watching my grandfather die on the front lawn, I first came to know grief as the jagged, breathless song on my grandmother's lips. I have carried death in my womb and laboured with great sobs of agony while...
What’s your story?
Growing up on the farm, a brand was a mark that was put on a cow to let outsiders know whose farm the animal came from. In high school, a brand was what the richer kids wore to prove that they were important, while I wore hand-me-downs or whatever my mom could get...
Ten (not so) simple ways to live a full life
1. Take a deep dive into your own heart. Dare to feel the depths of your emotions. Let joy wash over you like a tsunami wave. Let grief ooze out of every pore of your body. Be passionate and don't apologize for your passion. Don't be satisfied with life at the...
Question mandala: A creative process for getting unstuck
I finished the first draft of my memoir in the Spring. The writing flowed freely and quickly, mostly because it was a story that had been simmering and growing for more than ten years since my son Matthew died and then was born. Once I had about 60,000 words and it...
These things I know about myself
* I would rather teach people to think beautiful thoughts than to create grammatically correct sentences. * I believe that beauty and justice are inextricably intertwined and I want to bring more of both into the world. * I believe that the greatest inventions,...
Shifting the stories and returning to gratitude
Sometimes I let myself get stuck in the wrong stories. Stories like: - I would accomplish more if I had a nice office with big windows letting in the natural light. And a nice art easel. And more space for bookshelves. - It's okay to want what I want... in fact, I'm...
Occupy love, occupy art, occupy hope, occupy the questions
Inspired by the occupy movement, I've been thinking a lot about the questions on the hearts of all of those people gathering in communities around the world. What questions are their restless, dissatisfied hearts asking? How do we ask the right questions that will...
Weaving story threads into a tapestry of wisdom
A story has emerged for me lately that has helped me define myself. It is that of a woman carrying a basket and filling it with story threads as she wanders. Last week I was on a conference call with a circle of women planning a women's gathering for next summer....
Shawnigan Lake, B.C.
Privacy Policy • Terms and Conditions