Hospitality / Soulful Living
Today I’m thinking about all the investments I’ve made in other people. The events and parties and dinners and fundraising receptions I’ve hosted at my house at my expense. And three years of Sunday@Six gatherings. One of the things I love about true hospitality and generosity is it delivers a kind of immediate satisfaction. There […]
Starting Places
Five years ago, Judge Ed Emmett rang me up as I was juggling two phones trying to get information about which of our centers were flooded and which were dry. As then CEO of BakerRipley I was thinking past the immediate emergency of drastic flooding and stranded people, trying to inventory what assets we had […]
Losses
breathe through it I’ve been trying to “get over” some losses because even though I know better, the “just get over it” cultural norm pollutes my thinking. I’m not “over” these losses. I’m still in the process of letting go. Of reflecting on what they meant – what they mean now. Someone wise once told […]
Limbo Limbo Limbo
slow and low I share about patterns. Here’s the pattern we’re in with respect to recovery (if we can call it that). More about the troublesome nature of that word – recovery – next time. A lot of us are whispering “I’m so tired.” And we aren’t the “get a good nights sleep and all […]
On Gratitude
When times are tough we are often urged to be grateful for what we have. My father drove us slightly crazy with his admonishments along these lines. “There’s always someone worse off than you.” This, while true, doesn’t ease the pain a lick. Gratitude can’t be this weak ass thing that appears on one of […]
Catholic Education
Just saw this ad for Catholic Schools. I just feel the need to say: I succeeded both because of AND in spite of my Catholic School education. I treasure the teachings of Teillard de Chardin (excommunicated) and Sister Pat O’Donald. And the strong social conscience of a Catholic moral imperative. Thank you John Conway. And […]
Reckoning
In the aftermath of any catastrophe people and communities journey through a set of stages/states one of which I’ve labeled “reckoning”. Over the past 15 years since I began studying how people go on after the unthinkable happens, I’ve heard many people describe a particular juncture – a painful intersection. When they reached this intersection […]
Abusers
People who have experience with domestic violence know something very important. The most extreme danger comes when you try to break up or leave the abuser. Your life, those you care about, and your profession and possessions are most in danger at the point you decide you’re done. Abusers will burn your life down when/as […]
Pots. Prayers. Plans.
Hey there. There are three things I need today. POTS. (That’s pots, not pot. Smart aleck) If you have any spare clay or ceramic pots lying around outside I can use them. Maybe you were going to have that deck or balcony garden but it didn’t quite work out. I have sprouted lots of things […]
Gratitude and Grief
We’ve had a death in our family and it’s going to be a difficult day of masked up, socially distanced services. Excruciating. I post this because I know that we aren’t the only ones in this season facing losses. And practicing our faith and finding gratitude and grace even in loss. We are avoiding anger […]