Embracing a Surplus (a love note from your online Abbess)
Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, I was delighted to receive the image above the other day from fellow dancing monk and artist Karen Newe. The text comes from my book The Artist’s Rule, specifically the fourth chapter, which is one of my favorites on the importance of sacred rhythms for creative renewal. Seeing my words appear in […]
Happy Feast of St. Benedict (a love note from your online Abbess)
St. Benedict and the Rainstorm Early February evening. Benedict and his twin sister Scholastica, talk for hours about dealing with wayward monks, childhood memories, regrets, and how they sometimes steal away to the forest to dance. The beeswax candle extinguished, she went to fetch another, dinner plates pushed aside with drips of grease left from […]
Solstice Blessings + How to Be a Pilgrim (a love note from your online Abbess)
To receive this love note straight to your in-box, subscribe here (and also receive gifts!) How to Be a Pilgrim Air travel is like ancient pilgrims walking on their knees, flight delays and narrow seats offer their own kind of penance. You jettison excess baggage, leaving behind the heavy makeup case, knowing the rain will wash you […]
Aligning with the Season of My Soul (a love note from your online Abbess)
Dearest monks, artists, and pilgrims, I am relishing the slower rhythms of summer, time for unstructured schedules when I can follow my own inclinations, noticing what my body and spirit need in a given moment. I have much work to do on my manuscript to have it ready by August, but what nourishes the writing process […]
Clues and Curiosity:
Considering ways to explore archetypal energies
(guest post by Kayce Stevens Hughlett)
I am delighted this fall to be traveling to the Northeast and leading a retreat with one of my favorite people and dear friends, Kayce Stevens Hughlett, on the archetypes and expressive arts. There are only two spaces left, so if you would like to join us in Reading, PA October 1-5, 2015 click here for […]
Writing on the Wild Edges of the World:
A Creative Pilgrimage & Retreat in Ireland
with Christine Valters Paintner, PhD and John Valters Paintner, MTS May 8-14, 2022 | 6 days / 6 nights | FULL (contact us to be added to the waiting list) limited to 18 participants maximum Please join us for a journey to the far west of Ireland where we find many small islands off the […]
Stopping by the Holy Well (a love note from your online Abbess)
To receive this love note straight to your in-box, subscribe here (and also receive a gift!) Stopping by the Holy Well Gentian blue sky, dandelion seed clouds play hide and seek with the sun. The long walk on the pilgrim road, across blooming limestone to this flowing fissure. Brightly colored ribbons hang like old party streamers from branches, […]