I just finished reading a book by Makoto Fujimura, “Culture Care“. It’s one of those books chock full of things you were just about to say and hadn’t said yet. It’s also full of ideas and concepts that help shape how I think of myself and my role in the world. Fujimura is excellent at…
Doing Vs. Being
The chrysalis time continues. I had thought I had emerged, that my wings were going to grow and dry in the sun. Now I realize that the nature of the transformation to which I was called is something entirely different. My transformation was not a transformation of actions. My transformation was a transformation of self….
Emerging from the Chrysalis
Emerging from the chrysalis, the butterfly is weak, her wings wet. In the struggle to exit the chrysalis, the wings are strengthened, but she must still sit and fan them, slowly drying them and expanding them to their full potential. She knows herself to be transformed, but yet is not ready to fly. It comes…
Midlife Crisis and Rework
A midlife crisis is such a trite thing to go through, but there are seasons in life that are meant to give us pause. It becomes time to redirect our efforts and rework our lives. I have been given the privilege, as I approach my 50th birthday, to take a season off of my ordinary…
Transparency is not Vulnerability
No one wants to be vulnerable to the general public, and I’d absorbed the idea that transparency = vulnerability. Recent events have forced me to confront this notion, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I was wrong – transparency is not vulnerability. To see something is not to have the ability to harm it….
Cycle of Seasons
Cycles of seasons compose our lives. Each season has its cycle, its beginning, its end. Each group of seasons is composed of seasons of rest, of productivity, of beauty, of silence. This cycle of seasons is there for all to observe, but we ignore what is before us to pursue what “should be”. In the…
American
What’s your history…. where are you from… what’s your family… I feel so conflicted. I’m Irish and Scottish and British and German and Swedish. I’m a direct descendent of Sadie Hawkins but much closer are the immigrants, John & Mary, the Wolfes, the farmers and the bakers, the soldiers and the ladies in waiting. What…
Chrysalis Time
Chrysalis Time is a time of transformation. It’s the process of letting yourself go all gooey and insubstantial, the process of letting go of the things you have known about yourself. It’s a time to say, “I don’t know” and “I used to, but maybe not” and “let’s see”. In chrysalis time, our work consists…
Bridges In the Mist
It was 3am. I was exhausted. Of the past 24 hours, I’d slept perhaps three. I hadn’t eaten anything that day, and barely allowed any water. I’d spent 12 hours in active labor and then had surgery. They’d just brought me my son back – having insisted on taking him away so I could rest….
Wilderness
Once upon a time in the Wild, Wild West… we had wilderness. That was the West’s calling card. Empty spaces, rough edges, and Mother Nature red of tooth and claw. All of the majesty, all of the intensity, all of the desolation. In the heart of every true Westerner lies the scratchy disinclination to do…