STAY, in the Breath

letters from a writer & photographer's journey

How Love & Pain Mingle. How Clay Get’s Formed.

Living by a river this past month has been an experience to savor. At any part of the day we can hear it’s crashing. This has been true since we moved here but even more now that the rainy season has begun. It seems on the conservative side to say that the more stream-like river that we’ve been playing in rose by ten feet in a few days time. There is.. Read More

Night As Bright As Day: Pre-Eclipse Ponderings

Quick Personal Update With Thanks! I have so many things I want to tell you all. First, I want to say thank you so much to everyone who shared my book re-launch with others last week. I am thunderstruck. For someone who never expected to write a book at this stage of my life, the fact that it is published and actually circulating out in the wide world at all.. Read More

How Freedom Sings P.S. It’s not how we thought

When I got married I wanted to dance. I don’t mean I was so in love that I felt like dancing. I mean there was that too. But, really I wanted dance to literally be a part of our ceremony. Or, at least, afterwards? I had grand schemes, all locked away in my mind. For several reasons none of this occurred, but there was a woman I knew who did dance. So.. Read More

Dear Lovely Bird Who Doesn’t Know She is Free

Beneath undesired circumstances I was given an opportunity to make a choice. I have chosen to believe that to simply be alive is holy. I choose this, not without a struggle today and maybe again tomorrow. But eventually this will get clearer, I know that because it already has, but not how I thought it would, not the way I expected. A Story A few weeks ago, I asked a.. Read More

Our Stories, Our Needs: Seeing What’s True

Our stories are ours, but when we give them away that’s when they become much more, or maybe better said, that’s when we realize the truth—they are more. The truth is always there. The more we practice this, the more our seeing gets attuned to truth in the first place. Sharing is good, however, it’s scary too, I know. So many places to trip up in this process: comparing, and believing.. Read More

Creating: Not by Power, Not by Might, Not by Hate

I spent time this past summer of 2016 with some of the most creative people I’ve ever met. They don’t all think of themselves that way though. The goodness of their company has spilled right over into this autumn, and it’s hard for me to imagine feeling more stirred than I feel right now. They didn’t all know that’s how it would work out when they shared their struggles, fears and.. Read More

Aching with the Yearning: Learning the Love of God through my Children’s Eyes

“There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” —Vincent Van Gogh What could a life be, dedicated to intimately knowing one thing? What if that one thing is the love of God? (Dishes need washing again, laundry waiting to be put away, sobbing little heart needs me to hold him.) What if I love like the King of the Universe, Creator of heaven and earth? …on earth as it.. Read More

Why We Create: The Love of God in this Burning Wilderness

The littlest was howling. He hurt his knee. He came running. Tucking himself next to me, he took my long skirt and draped it over his wound, holding it tight. Eyes closed tight too, unaware how he was warming my heart, he cuddled into my lap. That kind of smile that comes from deep down broke out all over my tired face. It comforted me that I could comfort him, even with.. Read More

Dear Mom Who Needs Rest (OR: How to be a Super Mom)

I’ve got a whole lot of hurting hearts on my heart as I write today. People with grief I don’t know how to touch are on my mind. People who find resonance in Jeremiah’s words when he said, “I wish I hadn’t even been born.” I’m praying and I’m wondering what can be done. I’m praying for that illuminating moment we all need from time to time, that hand beyond.. Read More

An Artist’s Leap, Or Fail?

Five years ago, we lost: job, home, baby and for almost a year and a half—each other. My husband needed work and no one in his industry was hiring close to home. He took a job out-of-state, we put a sign in the front yard and started off on our new adventure, with five kids in tow. But renting in one state and owning a house that would not sell in another didn’t work long term, it hit its limits.

So, Jay stayed where the work was, to provide for us financially, and the kids and I went back to our old house, one state and a million miles away. I made a deal with Jay…