Visit the Abbey of the Arts online retreat platform to access your programs:

Reflections

Filter

The Art of Surrender

These last few weeks certain themes have been on my mind in connection with creativity: radical self-care, dream-tending, contemplative living, and humility.  My body continues to feel tired and my intuition and dreams have been screaming at me to not make the trip down to Berkeley to teach later this month.  And so early this week, with the advice of my doctor and the support of a wonderful husband and great friends, I made the difficult decision to not go.  Thankfully, my good friend and colleague Amy Wyatt has agreed to step in and take my place which helps relieve my

Read More

Napping for Nature

As if I needed one more reason to nap more. . .gotta love those British research projects! (“Sleep more and save the environment”) My father was definitely a workaholic, but being European by upbringing, he always came home in the middle of his 12-14 hour workday for a two hour lunch and nap break.  I am proud to say that I have firmly embraced the napping tradition of my ancestors, but rejected my father’s workaholic tendencies.  There is something so wonderful and decadent about taking a leisurely pause in the afternoon.  It is one of my acts of resistance against a culture that

Read More

Celebrating Freedom by Seeking Peace

Monday night my husband and I watched the documentary “Why We Fight” which opens with Eisenhower’s farewell speech warning the American people of not becoming beholden to the “military industrial complex.”  Much of the film is about situating our current national obsessions with war in historical and economic context.  Essentially, the war machine is profitable, so it will keep being fed.  It was one of those films that fueled my anger at this war we are engaged in because of its compelling and precise arguments. Then all day yesterday I was in a bit of a funk, in part because

Read More

Practicing Creativity Resource

Rita Bresnahan sent me this upcoming resource: the good folks over at Spirituality & Health magazine have started a new website devoted entirely to different spiritual practices.  They are offering a 40-day e-course beginning July 6 on “Practicing Spirituality through Creativity” for $10.  I am all signed up, eager to see what other resources they offer.

Read More

Telling the Truth

As a Benedictine Oblate I have made a commitment to live out monastic values and practices in my everyday life. Perhaps one of the most profound values for me is humility. Humility does not elicit much awe or admiration in our culture. It is a value that seems outdated in our world of self-empowerment and self-esteem boosting, negating much of the me-first values that our culture holds so dear. Some of the reservations about humility are legitimate, especially for women. Abuse of humility can encourage passivity, low self-worth, and be used as a tool of oppression, imparting fear, guilt, or

Read More

Be a degenerate. . .

“I regard monks and poets as the best degenerates in America. Both have a finely developed sense of the sacred potential in all things; both value image and symbol over utilitarian purpose or the bottom line; they recognize the transformative power hiding in the simplest things, and it leads them to commit absurd acts: the poem! the prayer! what nonsense! In a culture that excels at creating artificial, tightly controlled environments (shopping malls, amusement parks, chain motels), the art of monks and poets is useless, if not irresponsible, remaining out of reach of commercial manipulation and ideological justification.”  –Kathleen Norris,

Read More

The Artistry of Sky

      One of my favorite things to do is to watch clouds.  Unlike the sense of groundedness and solidness I receive from ancient things, clouds are in a constant process of slowly shifting into different patterns, always revealing something new.  I love to imagine God as the Great Artist, playing with the clouds, shifting their forms from moment to moment, seeing if we will notice.  These images are from our trip to Kauai.

Read More

Radical Self-Care

I am back from vacation, and wouldn’t you know it, the trip home exhausted me!  I always feel like I need a vacation at home to recover from my vacation away.  Maybe it’s because I am such a nester, or maybe it is because there is always a pile of things left undone when you return.  Lots of realities that felt good to let go of for a time, but others that I am glad to return to. The time away was renewing for me.  I realized before I left just how tired I was.  I have a chronic illness, so

Read More

Hidden Rooms

My birthday is tomorrow which always gives me pause for reflection, as a midway point in the year. About eight years ago, when I was visiting Santa Fe, I had my astrological chart done for fun. My aunt had recommended a psychic she knew working there, and so having just finished my first year of a stressful doctoral program, I treated myself to something different. I was absolutely amazed what this woman knew about me from reading my chart. I gained much more respect for the art of astrology, far more complex than those horoscopes in the newspaper lead you

Read More

Solstice Blessings

Today is one of those great turning points of the earth, the summer solstice. I am aware here in Kauai, that being near the equator, there are not any noticeable shifts in light from season to season. Much unlike my home in Seattle where summer days stretch out long and light and winter days are short with the sun low on the horizon. I actually prefer the contrasts, and may be one of th few people in Seattle who loves the winter there. Tending the seasons is an important spiritual practice. Noticing what is happening with the earth’s movements and

Read More