The Pain of Not Skating: Mother’s Day 2021

Let’s pretend for a moment. Let’s pretend that there is a Roller Skater’s Day.  Every year, stores are flooded with Roller Skater’s Day cards, and roller skate pastries, and roller skate deals on skating themed jewelry.   And let’s pretend that we live in a society where one’s status as a roller skater is SUPER important. ...

Beautiful Skin

Healing is seeing the systems of oppression we exist within and opting out of them as a designing force in our own understandings of the world.

Uterus Confetti

For my birthday a few years ago, my sister gave me a tote bag with multicolored uteruses printed all over it.  “Uterus Confetti,” the pattern was called.  I used this bag proudly for many years: when teaching the Our Whole Lives curriculum at my church, at the grocery store, when going to doctors appointments.  People...

This Body Holy

This poem has had roughly 155 different titles...but I think this is the one I like. For today, anyway. CN: sexual assault This Body Holy When women lament their stomachs, their thighs, their arms, their right big toe – this body rises, indignant. This body balks at diet plans. She will not discuss weight loss...

I don’t know how to do this

I don’t know how to do this. I pretend I do. I pretend I have wise, beautiful, profound things to say. I organize and re-organize and re-organize my life.  I go to work. I pour my energy into the ways I extend my hands to others. I volunteer at the homeless shelter and make the...

Holy Doubt, Holy Faith, Holy Shit

I recently changed the lock screen on my phone to a graphic that says: “You are a ghost driving a meat-coated skeleton made from star dust riding a rock floating through space. FEAR NOTHING.” I don't know why this tickled me so much. Maybe it’s because it makes my too-big fear feel small and inconsequential....

Breathing into grace: Random thoughts on self-care

Lately, I’ve had a lot of conversations about self-care.  I’ve been trying – hard - to revolutionize my whole idea of what self-care feels like, what it looks like, and how I feel about it.  This is work, people.  Hard work. Popular media would have us believe self-care is about treating ourselves: shopping, long baths...

The daily ritual of practice

Lately, I’ve been thinking about practice. I’m thinking about what we practice and what we don’t practice.  What we should practice, but don’t.  I’m thinking about the rhetoric around practice, and I’m thinking about how annoying practice can be. Typically, when we think about practice, we think about a specific talent or skill: musicians have...

My work is to always remember this

I wrote most of this a few years ago after reading this article for the first time.  I have edited it some for confidentiality and brevity.  What is your work? ****** My work is to know this: the young man who punched a hole in my office wall and told me every week for 6...

The Real Yoga: Powerful and known

I got glasses when I was around 10 years old.  I didn’t know I needed glasses, but when I left the eye doctor with those glasses, I was amazed: who knew trees had leaves you could see?  I could read signs!  Everything was brighter, more detailed, and beautiful. At 10, I was already dancing (ballet)...