Lent 2021: Explore Playful Practice

“...Lent is a speed bump in the church year, inviting us into reflection, confession, and prayer as we approach Holy Week and Easter, a time when we remember the profound costliness of God’s abundant love for us.” --Susan Phillips, PhD, Executive Director of New College Berkeley Image by Trevor M from Pixabay I love the … Continue reading Lent 2021: Explore Playful Practice

Advent 3 – Longing for the Prince of Peace

When I chose "recreate" as my 2017 word of the year, I anticipated keeping on keeping on with my creative life pursuits while engaging more playfully. I did not expect the mess, the dusty piles that result from taking things apart in order to make something new. I didn't expect the directions the word would … Continue reading Advent 3 – Longing for the Prince of Peace

When It Clicks

College, first semester freshman year, I had a professor (in a non-writing class) who taught me one of the most useful skills I have ever learned: freewriting. "For the next minute [or three, or five], put pencil to paper and Do Not Stop! If you cannot think of anything to write, write that. If that … Continue reading When It Clicks

Power Down & Play

"Wow, you really need to get away!" said Co-worker as she realized I had missed something squarely in my easy-peasy realm of responsibility. I worked frenetically up until fifteen minutes before our car drove away. While I did pull out my phone a few times on the drive, I also made a concerted effort not to … Continue reading Power Down & Play

re:create recess

In 2015 I decided to adopt a word (actually, a phrase) that significantly affected my decision-making: put yourself in the way of beauty. Unlike any resolution or goal setting before it, that phrase began a work in my being--mind, heart, body, soul--that continues to this day. Create was my 2016 theme, and it picked up … Continue reading re:create recess

Thankful Thursday – My Awesome Doghouse

No matter what you do, how hard you work, how much you invest, how great your love or commitment, you will disappoint people. The junior high and high school popular kids. Certain teachers or college professors. Friends and neighbors. Bosses and authority figures of all stripes and spots. Family members, community members, and church members. … Continue reading Thankful Thursday – My Awesome Doghouse

Play at Your Own Risk

I've written about this before, but most of my life I thought I could not be a runner. Once I hit puberty, running induced unbearable abdominal cramps. Later, as a college freshman, I tore my meniscus and running hurt my knee. Sports never floated my boat, so I had no reason to run. I was the indoorsy … Continue reading Play at Your Own Risk

An Expressive Outlet

Create Challenge Guest Post Day has made Wednesdays my 2016 favorite day of the week! As a writer, there is so much about today's post that resonates with me: the desire/need to release words into the world; the joy in the process and relief at its end; the writing-editing tension; and procrastination, because laundry. When we attended … Continue reading An Expressive Outlet

Running in the Rain

You don’t have to know me well to know I’m not a runner. My inner critic says, You might know at first glance, but I tell that voice to hush up now. For various reasons, I haven’t run since a college-required fitness class, mostly because it felt torturous, no fun at all. Walking, hiking, YES, … Continue reading Running in the Rain