This summer I invited the 12 members of the Wisdom Council to each write a reflection on being a monk in the world. They were so well-received by the Abbey community, I decided to continue the series this fall by asking some fellow authors and bloggers I know to also write about living contemplatively in daily life. I am delighted to have such a lovely line up for you, beginning with Tara Owens, who I got to know initially through Spiritual Directors International and have grown to love her spirit and perspective on things. So I bring you some of her wisdom: To

This week brings us to our final guest post from Wisdom Council members!  And a wonderful way to finish is with my dear friend and teaching partner Betsey Beckman. Betsey and I met soon after I moved to Seattle over ten years ago. We discovered we made a beautiful partnership in bringing the gifts of the arts to others and created Awakening the Creative Spirit: Experiential Education in the Expressive Arts together, our 5-day residential intensive for soul care practitioners which is now in its 8th year (and later wrote a book together as well)!  Over the years we have partnered in

I am excited to share another Wisdom Council guest post, this time from Trish Bruxvoort Colligan. I met Trish first virtually several years ago when she was blogging and felt immediate kinship to her presence and spirit, not to mention her beautiful music which I often use in retreat settings and in several online courses. It was a gift to finally meet her at the Spiritual Directors International conference in San Francisco where she and her husband Richard were offering their musical gifts. Trish is working on a new album called Wild Acre, which I know is going to be gorgeous because I

This week, our Wisdom Council guest post is from my dear friend and colleague Kayce Stevens Hughlett.  Kayce and I first got to know each other years ago when she attended Awakening the Creative Spirit in its early extended version and then again when we offered it as an intensive. Friendship bloomed from there, along with co-collaboration in several forms, including leading a supervision group together in Seattle, co-leading a retreat on the archetypes, and our recent pilgrimage to Vienna (and of course her contributions to several online classes).  Read on for more from Kayce: “I know artists whose medium is life itself

This week, our Wisdom Council guest post is from the lovely Amber Andreasen.  Amber has participated in several Abbey online programs including Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist and Practicing Resurrection through Creativity and Archetypes (which she mentions in her reflection) and has participated in our live intensive Awakening the Creative Spirit.  She has also been taking on a greater role in Abbey online retreats as a soul care presence and support for our participants. Read on for Amber’s reflections: It used to be That when I would wake in the morning I could with confidence say, “What

I am delighted to share another guest post from one of our wonderful Wisdom Council members! This week we hear from Rev. Dr. Michael Landon.  I first met Michael a couple of years ago when he participated in our Awakening the Creative Spirit intensive and found kinship with him through his work with grief and lament.  He has a written a beautiful book, Grieving Hearts in Worship: A Ministry Resource, which explores the essential role of ritual in healing from losses of all kinds. Read on for Michael’s reflections: When I sit at my computer in my home office, my eyes are frequently