Small group

Working and sharing within a small group of people with a common goal is inspiring, fun and educational.  The desire to "go deeper" in our journey toward authenticity and trust is all that is required to participate.

Two groups are forming to begin in February, one during the day and one in the evening.  Both will use Richard Rohr's book, Everything Belongs as a basis for discussion.  The group provides an opportunity to raise questions and share insights with one another, discuss personal issues in a confidential setting, and support one another's intention to deepen our trust in Life.

Meeting times will be Monday afternoons at 2:00-3:30, and Monday evenings at 6:30-8:00.  The groups will meet for six consecutive weeks.  The first meeting will be on Monday, February 7th.  The fee is $210 for the six sessions.  If the fee is a hardship, please contact me for other options.

To register to participate in one of the groups, you may call or email me, or leave a comment on my blog.

It'll be fun!

Decision

I have made the decision to resume my private practice of spiritual direction.

Years ago I served as a doula-- a woman who attends and encourages women in childbirth.   In significant ways, that work laid the groundwork for my work as a "spiritual doula."  When I was 29 years old, after having given birth twice myself and endured and survived a frighteningly dark period in my life, I wrote the following lines:

A woman should never be left to labor alone,
No person should ever be forced to labor alone.
She should be able to look about her and see and touch
A woman who has labored and birthed and survived.
Every laboring person needs to see and know at least one survivor.
Some day, someone in heavy labor will look up and see me, and
I will giver her hope, and
She will continue on, to the finish, to the new beginning...

Spiritual growth and development can be as frightening, arduous and last much longer than labor and childbirth.  It is immeasurably comforting to have someone hold your hand and whisper words of encouragement who absolutely believes that all will turn out well.  A spiritual doula has utter faith in the process and in God, Love, Allah, The Force, Life, the Nameless.

I am not a psychotherapist, coach, nor ordained clergy.  I am a fellow pilgrim who has battled through several spiritual crises, a seeker my entire life.  I also discovered years ago a trustworthy inner voice that I rely on and share with others.

My work takes various forms: individual sessions, meditation instruction, Spiritspeak poems, small group experiences, and contemplative retreats.  My background and tradition is Christian, the language I am most familiar with, yet I respect all religious traditions as well as agnosticism and atheism.  I have studied A Course in Miracles for more than 20 years, and have benefitted from 24 years of membership in AlAnon.

There is nothing I would rather do than befriend someone who is struggling to achieve authenticity, trust and faith,  in large part out of gratitude for the dear souls who have befriended me over the years.

New small group experience....

I’m tempted to say that I have come full-circle and am revisiting my former life, but that would not be accurate.  It does feel familiar to be teaching meditation classes again, and now I am offering a small group experience as I did years ago.

However, we never go back.  I have changed; my work has changed; the world has changed.  It’s a new day.

Beginning in February, I will host and facilitate a small group of folks who want to explore a more contemplative life while living the life they already have.  We will use the lovely book, Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer, by Richard Rohr as a touchstone for discussion.

I am open to afternoons or evenings, so am asking for feedback from anyone who might like to participate to let me know what time works best for you.  We will meet for six weeks, once a week.

The fee for the group will be $210 for all six weeks, and the number of participants will be limited.

Call or email me, message me on Facebook, or leave a comment here if you are interested in participating.  I’ll get in touch with you.

Belonging

There are millions of places and situations where I do not belong.
There are very few where I do.
If I'm needed, I'm already there.
If I'm not, I'm not.
I need not worry about where I belong...
I belong where I am,
and don't where I'm not.

More Extroversion

When I've been blessed; I tell it,
When I tell it: I betray it,
When I betray it; I doubt it.
Uh oh

This week...

My favorite week of the year, the week between Christmas and the New Year.  New Year's Day is without doubt my favorite day of the year.  The week leading up to New Year is especially poignant and introspective for me.  I relish it.

I love new beginnings, fresh starts, cleared slates, clean pages, new chapters, wrapping up.  New Year brings renewed energy and expectation.  No resolutions!  Merely a day on the calendar to remind me to say "yes."

This last year was full of change and lessons, surprises and upheavals.  In the end it allowed me to remember who I am and what matters to me.  I walked away from managing and suffered significant withdrawal symptoms.  I sat with myself; I sat with mySelf.  I came back to me...

What I wish for us all is a new year to move more steadily in the direction of authenticity and faith --authentic faith.

Here is my New Year's card for anyone reading this:  May you embrace your unique and distinctive Life; may you readily share your Life with the rest of us; may you remember you are not alone, that it is good that you are here among us.  Amen.

Extroversion

When I think it; I say it.
When I say it; I feel it.
When I feel it; I believe it.
Oops

What I don't know...

Getting to the heart of it, the truth of it,

Circling overhead, making pass after pass,

Checking radar before landing.

There is something that is Known

That I’ve yet to discover, something that

Eludes me time and again,

The search for which brings me back to this circling pattern

Repeatedly.

Honing in, staying the course, not turning back,

Determined to remain true to myself in search of my Self.

My value is in doubt,

My capacity for growth, healing and transformation

Becomes more and more elusive.

Relationships that should nurture and sustain

Wobble and tilt, accuse and cause pain, no one to blame.

I surrender to surrendering,

I understand the process and concur wholemindedly,

Yet my heart stands back waiting for I know not what.

Might 2010 close in upon me, still waiting?

What's with those poems?

Someone recently asked me about the poems I write, so I thought I’d take advantage of the blog to describe the poems and the process.

I stumbled on “the poems” many years ago in the privacy of my own mind.  I would sit at my computer with a blank screen, mostly when I was troubled or confused.  I would close my eyes and drift inward (no other way to describe it) and before long I was typing a message to me from Me.  I have no idea why, but the form the message took resembled a poem more than  paragraphs.  For quite some time this process was very private, very personal and one I kept to myself.  The messages I received were always loving, supportive and non-judgmental…comforting and insightful.

A few months later I described this process to a friend who then asked if I could write poems for other people.  Her question was shocking to me, as I’d never considered such a thing.  I began experimenting with family and friends.  I found that the same Me who inspired and comforted me was more than willing to do so on behalf of others.  Though every poem is unique and personal, they also seem to have a universal message of support and affirmation.

 I decided to call the poems SpiritSpeak Poems and began accepting requests to write a poems for individuals, couples or groups at a charge of $40 per poem.  They do not foretell the future; they are not “channeled.”  They do not give advice, per se.  Nor am I clairvoyant.  The more information I have about the recipient, the more personal the poem. 

Often someone requests a poem for someone else to give as a gift.  In that instance, the poem is mailed directly to the recipient, much like a gift of flowers is delivered directly to the recipient with a card announcing who sent the gift.  Though the poems are written for other people, I retain ownership of every poem and ask that they not be published without my permission.

Here is a sample, a real poem, names changed, that was requested for a woman who was turning 70 and also about to celebrate a milestone wedding anniversary.

Milestones, benchmarks, turning points, arrivals, and

New beginnings.

70 years old, 50 years married,

A mature life,

A mature marriage.  Celebratory.

Imagine sitting with an open scrapbook,

Not a real one, you wouldn’t want the distraction of

Looking at old photos, old invitations, old mementos,

But an imaginary scrapbook, found only within your mind.

Snapshots of feelings, thoughts, ideas, dreams, horrors,

Victories and embarrassments, wins and losses.

You’ve had them all.  Some are public and acknowledged,

Others are private, poignantly secret.

Some expectations never came to pass and likely never will.

Other events, events that could never have been predicted,

Landed on you unannounced.  Who knew?

The photos you actually took and saved

Cannot begin to capture the felt experiences that color your life.

Take an imaginary walk with you as you were at 16, and

Explain to her what will happen.  Be gentle with her,

There is so much she doesn’t know.

When she has heard you out and thanks you for your guidance,

Merely say you’re welcome, I wouldn’t have missed it, any of it.

Now, take an imaginary walk with your fiancé, Leonard,

A week before your wedding.

Explain to him what will happen and how it will all come to pass.

When he looks at you with wide eyes and asks, “are you serious?”

Just nod, and smile and take his hand.

And then…and then

Find a cool pool of clear water, fill your lungs with air, and

Gently sink into the pool until you are totally submerged,

Your hair floating and dancing about your head,

And say “amen”, so be it, let it be, as it is, yes…

Towel yourself off, and walk back into your life.

Sliding...

Gently sliding, succumbing, releasing,

Stepping away from managing,

Backing away from accomplishing,

Drifting, free falling.

Allowing the year to wind down

Without my guidance, my effort.

Trusting the world knows how

To rotate without me,

Trusting that life goes on even

As I lay down the baton and

Walk off stage.

Controlling, managing, controlling, managing,

Exhausting myself with ill conceived

Attempts at prevention, forestalling,

Keeping the hounds at bay.

I surrender.

I relinquish the wheel and

Slide gratefully into the back seat

To watch the world glide by.

If summoned, I will respond,

Meanwhile, I will sit and reflect,

Knit and breathe,

Wait, and trust

She who loves and trusts me.