H.M. offered this 6 Word Memoir Meme to his readers: try to write your whole life story in just six words.  I am doing a slight variation, in that trying to encompass the whole of my life so succinctly feels overwhelming.  But while at this conference I am attending, someone asked me what is the fundamental message I try to convey in my retreat work.  I offered a longer version of the words below, and realized this is my own primary practice: making space for newness emerging within I’d love to hear your own six word memoir which you can leave

Last summer my husband and I went to Kauai for two weeks. It was a beautiful trip where I absolutely fell in love with sea turtles.  We started to notice as the days passed there, the most common car on the island was a yellow jeep.  We started to point them out and create a silly game, saying “screamin’ heebie-jeepie!” and then decided each time we had to give each other a kiss (sort of a much nicer version of orange punch-bug).  Since we passed them on the road all the time, it made for a very romantic trip.  The delightful part is that ever

Greetings dear friends, In a week and a half I will be heading to the Emerald Island from the Emerald City and will be out of email and blogging touch for a bit.  More blogging to come this week though.  In the meantime I wanted to post another invitation for you to consider joining Betsey and myself for what promises to be a wonderful time.  I have had lots of folks express interest, and it would be helpful for us to have you register before August for us to be able to confirm with the retreat center.  Registration requires a

Tess at Anchors andMasts tagged me for this meme.  The rules are:  People who are tagged start by thinking about 7 random facts/habits about themselves. Each player then must write about those seven things on their blog, as well as include these rules. Players then need to choose 7 people to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to leave each person a comment telling them they’ve been tagged. 1.  I am not a big reader of fiction, I much prefer nonfiction.  In the last ten years the only novel I have read that I can think of is The Secret

  Today is my one-year blogging anniversary!  Hard to believe, it has been a truly wonderful year.  I have met so many amazing people, gifted artists, new friends.  I have received advice and encouragement on the creative journey. I am stealing this idea from Kayce at Diamonds in the Sky With Lucy, who for her 100th post asked readers what their favorite post of hers was.  So please indulge me a little and let me know if there has been a particular reflection or image that stands out for you as a favorite, or you could just let me know what

My blog is a finalist under the Best of Blogs Inspirational category!  Best of Blogs is dedicated to giving exposure to smaller blogs.  I am very excited and honored.  You can vote for me here (scroll down to the third category), you get one vote per day until April 13, 2007. -Christine Valters Paintner @ Abbey of the Arts