Grounding + Becoming
A Spacious Wisdom Cross-Pollination
There is a current between knowing and unknowing. It will carry you.
Each one is troubled by the ultimate questions. And no one else’s answer can satisfy the hunger in your heart. The beauty of great questions is how they dwell differently in each mind, how they root deeper than all the surface chatter and image. How they continually disturb. Your deep questions grow quickly restless in the artificial clay of received opinion or stagnant thought, and if you avoid this disturbance and try to quell these questions, it will cost you all your peace of mind. Sooner or later, every one of us must come to our contemplative longing and gain either the courage, the recklessness to begin our own contemplative journey.
-John O’Donohue
Relax Your Eyes: A Spiritual Director on Falling Through Fear Into Love
I awoke from a dream two years ago with a playful image, a new way of orienting to my faith: Magic Eye Art.
Why I BeReal
Every single day,
a call to connection arrives on my phone.
The task is simple —
take a selfie
and then hold still
for one more photo —
the view from
where I am.
Is There A Place?
Love is always a flow. How do we hold these powerful forces with care? Is there a place one can go to say "I'm on fire..."
And Still, I Burn, A Poem About Longing
Every so often, I’m visited by a traveling itch.
I push up my sleeve and scratch deeply,
but this itch is a deft matador.
I See You, and I’m Not Going Anywhere
Here's a poem I wrote from a grounded place -- wisdom from myself to myself. I'll keep these words as an anchor to guide my home.
Contemplative Curiosity: Cynthia Bourgeault on Surrender
Here’s a 10-minute unconventional spiritual practice - bringing curiosity and presence to a Cynthia Bourgeault quote about bracing and surrender.
She hadn’t been wide awake for years
What does this wisdom collage stir in you? Do the words or images draw you in? Do you resist them?
Incredible Hulk Moments
Do you ever go from calm to “losing it,” and wonder what in the world happened? Suddenly you have no connection to your thinking mind. What is your self-talk like after these moments? Are you hard on yourself?
Being with others when they are in pain
I’m always on the look out for ways to be with people more skillfully and artfully. Dr. Ham has some wonderful videos that break complex concepts into simple explanations that make sense to me.
You’re on the Right Path
Here’s an invitation to an unconventional spiritual practice —bringing curiosity to evocative images to notice resonance and resistance. What does this wisdom collage stir in you?
Love says “Please Come Home”
How do we move in freedom, agency, and sacred responsibility — freedom for the flourishing of all beings and Love itself?
Contemplative Curiosity: Lama Rod Owens on Goodness
What do you notice and wonder as you read this Lama Rod Owens quote on goodness?
Leaves and Blossoms Along the Way by Mary Oliver
Listen for your inner wisdom through the prism of poetry with Mary’s Olivers Leaves and Blossoms Along the Way.
Kirsten’s Reading List
I’m reading (and already recommending!) The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors by Lama Rod Owens.
Contemplative Curiosity: Mary Oliver on Moments
Creating space for presence with Mary Oliver's words about moments.
Life is Hard: A Spiritual Director on Holding Complexities + Contradictions
We all have had or will have moments like these when we get news that changes life as we knew it and leaves us wondering if we even really savored our “before.”
Logos + Mythos
What voices guide you in darkness and complexity? Michael Meade is one of the voices I turn to. He calls me into stories.