"The sun comes up and we start again. The sun comes up and we start again... Be here now." Mason Jennings sang me to wake this morning with words that I needed to hear and carry with me today. They echo words from St. Benedict that I have tucked into my heart: "always we begin … Continue reading Why I always begin again (and again)
I've been contending with empty pages for a while now. Empty journal pages—pen poised in my hand for 30 minutes and the page still blank. Empty word documents—cursor blinking and not a word to type. Empty pages sometimes feel like failure. In a few days, I will be staring down another blank page. For the … Continue reading Welcoming Empty Pages and Spacious Places
This poem was my invitation. An invitation to listen. To participate. To dance and play with something much bigger than myself. I firmly believe that this invitation is extended to everybody.
Image from The Gift of Writing Sharing my words is hard sometimes. I don’t always like the emotions that crop up after I share. Sometimes I’ve wondered if I even should be sharing. What if I just can’t handle the aftermath? But the good things in life rarely come easily, do they? Just because being … Continue reading When You Realize You are Enough
Image from The Gift of Writing According to Thomas Merton, a vocation, like writing, is a gift we are given in order to give it back. He says, In religious terms, this is simply a matter of accepting life, and everything in life as a gift, and clinging to none of it, as far as … Continue reading Why Do You Write?
Image from The Gift of Writing I'm learning how to listen to my heart. What does it sound like? Where does it show up? Ego, Intellect, Fear, Should . . . these parts of me are noisy. Sometimes they distract me from who I am and where I am going. When I forget, when I … Continue reading What to Do When Your Heart Doesn’t Know What it Wants
Jessica Sanborn 