A New Project

This is a new project I'm writing for. It's called the Common House through Sacred Ordinary Days. Check it out! 

Greetings Fellow Sojourners!

I met with a group of Spiritual Directors hosted by Spiritual Directors Int'l (SDI) on Thursday. There were about 25 people there, from all different faiths including Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, and Muslim, talking about the theme "Welcoming the Stranger." Everybody had a chance to tell their story. As you might expect, the stories were largely the same, except for the details. 

What stood out for me, is not only accepting "others," but most importantly, yourself. The parts of yourself that you just want to sweep away under the meditation cushion. Can anybody relate?

For me, it shows up as insecurity, feeling not good enough, or feeling different, like a misfit. Mostly with my speaking voice. You see, I had a stroke four years ago, which left me with aphasia, a brain injury that forces me to use all my brain resources to talk. But, I have neuroplasticity and God on my side, redefining healing based on what is.

AND, that is what I want to bring to you...a story of curiosity, acceptance, grit, compassion, healing. Both the struggles and the joys.

But, first I have to love myself with all my flaws.

I don't have a Host-to-Host video to post today, due to a "host" of technical difficulties. Which pushed my old and new buttons of feeling like an outsider, I will admit! Just another chance to come back to what really matters--God and this community. My video will be coming soon, but for this week, I want to share a poem with you that my Spiritual Director shared with me on Friday (she's the main reason I wanted to be a spiritual director myself):

Here's a little more about me:

Alizabeth Rasmussen is a spiritual director trained at the Franciscan Spiritual Center in Portland and is part of the Catholic tradition. She had a stroke three years ago that has allowed her to learn to slow down and to help others to do the same. She is interested in lectio divina using poetry and visio divina using photography.  Liz also volunteers to teach writing and mindfulness classes and enjoys practicing yoga. She has been published on the websites damselfly press, Wild Violet, and Mused as well as in the recent book, Nothing to Declare--A Guide to the Flash Sequence. She lives in Bellevue, WA with her son, Ian. She often says that she is “on a mission to be real.”

So, what about you? Did anything resonate with you in the poem? What are the parts of you that you don't want to show to the world? Can you be oh-so-gentle with them? And if you live in Washington, I'd like to meet you IRL! ☺️