Seeking Authentic Voice

We are creatures, creatures of love We are creatures, creatures of love From the sleep of reason, a life is born We are creatures, creatures of love -Talking Heads Walking to yoga I tend to keep my eyes aimed toward the ground, on the look-out for uneven sidewalk, fallen branches, and other potential trip hazards. Of course I am also looking around me, aware of bicyclists, other walkers, and four legged and winged creatures who inhabit the woods that border the sidewalk. The smell of the river, buried in the woods, but visible in places along the way, is usually potent. It’s a river under going significant cleaning from waste that has polluted it. Lately, however, the river does not smell, it must be the overabundance of rain water and fast moving current, keeping it clean? Inevitably as I walk with my gaze toward the ground I see crawling creatures, and at least this summer, a ton of hopping tiny frogs. So many frogs on the sidewalk, in our backyard and in the garden...

I needed to walk. I needed to walk a lot.  It was one of those days when a snarky email got me going, interior-wise. That kind of interior work, choosing to not be knee-jerky, is hard for me. When my initial reaction is loaded with spit and vinegar, I know I need to move my body, but not my fingers on the keypad. It’s part of my on going effort to become better at self-differentiation, better at not responding to some comments or emails, better at letting the other person just sit with their words, not having my reaction to justify their immature behavior.  So, I walked. I walked to yoga, one of my favorite (almost) daily walks. The walk takes me along an urban forest that lines a small river. Looking into the trees I always see something beautiful: deer eating leaves, nestled safely behind the dense branches, but really only a few feet away; a red-tailed hawk standing on the edge of the grass, who looked me straight in the eye until I was a three feet away, and t...

Summer is one of my favorite seasons. One of them because I like all four. Here in southeast Michigan we do have four seasons, and spring can be lovely. Spring in this region can bring blooming fruit trees and yards full of spring flowers with comfortable temperatures that last three weeks or more. (Hey, that is not bad considering other nearby regions have a dreary spring that feels more like winter and then suddenly it's hot and summer). Still, despite the lovely spring climate here, summer is one of my favorite seasons. I don't really mind being hot although I am not fond of high humidity. Being drenched all the time is just not my thing. Aside from the stickiness of humidity I like the ease of slipping on a pair of sandals, shorts and a T-shirt and heading out the door. No need for layers of attire, summertime walks are easy. Walking, for me, is a means for maintaining good health and a social justice statement. Instead of driving I walk every where I can anytime I am able....

This morning dawned bright and sunny, a welcome relief from the seemingly endless rain that is defining this late spring and early summer season in SE Michigan. I do love cloudy, rainy days and take them as an invitation to read, reflect, and do interior work both within me and within my home or the church. However I have a vested interest right now in balancing this rain with sun and warmth: walking to yoga and nurturing my baby vegetable garden. Walking to yoga is one of my CREDO II "Rule of Life" practices. Five times a week, sometimes more, I rise early and walk to an early morning yoga class. Sometimes the first class is at 7am but on Saturday it is 8am and on Monday, my day off, I usually take the 9:30 class. The walk is only fifteen minutes each way, not far. It is a lovely walk through quiet tree-lined neighborhoods. Walking is an intentional decision.  I could ride my bike or drive the car. I do love to ride my bike and on hot summer mornings it is one of my fa...

A couple of weeks ago I packed a giant suitcase and prepared to head off for eight days into the unknown. I would join some thirty other Episcopal priests, fifty-five years old and older, from all over the country, for a time to reflect on our lives. We would gather at a retreat center in the heart of Mississippi. That fact alone, that we would be in Mississippi, was enough to cause me to be a little guarded. (Not that I had ever BEEN in Mississippi...). I had to schedule this CREDO retreat sometime last summer - gotta claim one's space when the invite comes - even though it is really hard to project out and decide when will actually be a good time to be gone for eight days. As it turns out this was probably the perfect time for me to go. I was exhausted, completely done in from a year of really GOOD hard work. I know this to be so, but I've come to realize just how true it is- good stress is just as wearing on the body as bad stress. As far as the body knows, stress is stre...

Calf Creek Canyon, near Escalante in Southern Utah 1. Tell about your favorite outdoor play . My primary forms of outdoor "play" include walking, biking, and gardening....all of which really are playful for me because they bring me great delight. 2. Tell about your favorite indoor play . Yoga is probably my favorite form of indoor play, or some other exercise I find on YouTube. But I also like to play solitare, scrabble, and angry birds on my iPad.... 3. Tell about a game you (or your friends) created . When I was a little girl we lived in a neighborhood with a patch of woods. I love to pretend that I was Sacajawea and walk the woods as silently as I could, attempting to not even bend a blade of grass. 4. Tell about a game that is new to you . Mexican Train played with dominoes...I didn't actually play it, but I was present when a group of people did - looked like a lot of fun. 5. Tell how you would like to incorporate play into your workday. As a parish p...

This morning I decided to go for a walk. No matter that the outside air temp was 13 degrees. I was not going to be confined or intimidated by the temperature. I bundled up in my mom's old down coat. It's a long coat from LL Bean, one she purchased many years ago. After she died I saved it, finding it a good coat for winter dog walking. She would have liked that, being a dog lover herself. It's a little too big for me but it was my mom's. And, the added layers I had on under and over helped it fit a bit better than usual. Anyway, I was wrapped from head to toe in down, and an old Irish wool scarf, a hat and some insulated gloves and shoe/boots. I gathered my books and movies and trudged off to the library. I could have driven the car. I walked right past it as I headed out on my walk. But the library is a mere three blocks from my house, an easy ten minute walk. It is really silly to drive unless I am running other errands, which I was not. Now that I think about it,...