Month: February 2026

Starting Your Lenten Journey

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Mark A. Villano, CSP, Daily Reflections for Lent: Not by Bread Alone 2026, p. 7

This was the meditation for Ash Wednesday. As soon as I read it, it spoke to me. I am a planner. Whether it’s my trek to work (today I had four bags plus my phone and keys) or vacation or retreat (enough clothes for a week even if it’s only a weekend) or Lent (you saw my list last week).

The most important thoughts to me are the last two questions:

What do I want to carry with me during the days ahead?

What prayer exercises or spiritual practices will accompany me?

As with all my excursions, I have a tote bag. Or three. I load myself up with what I *might* need even when, with experience, I know that I won’t need all of it, and I probably won’t need half of it. So, as I begin my Lenten journey, what do I want to carry with me for the next forty or so days?

What prayers and practices will I take with me? And which ones will I leave behind? What is working for this Lent that may not have worked last year? And on the opposite side of the coin, what worked last year that just doesn’t feel right this year?

The rest of this week is thinking time for me.

Meditating.

Contemplating.

Discerning.

I’ll come back next week and write about what I’ve discovered. In the meantime, if you’re observing Lent, what are you doing to make it meaningful for yourself?

Book Rec – Embrace Your Weird

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Embrace Your Weird: Face Your Fears and Unleash Creativity by Felicia Day

I originally downloaded a sample of this ebook, and soon discovered that I needed the printed copy. The printed book gave me the opportunity to write in the book in the space provided, and really let me unleash my creativity in colorful ways (see the pens in the photo).

Unfortunately, I put it aside for quite some time, and it wasn’t until I started reading The Book of Alchemy and following those prompts for a 100 Day project did I come to the realization that I wanted to continue with Felicia Day’s inspiring book.

While both books are gateways to jump starting your creativity, they are vastly different. Jaouad’s Alchemy, I think is geared more towards the writer. All of the prompts, so far have been excellent for my writing. Sometimes I write short little vignettes, sometimes thousand word think pieces. I’m looking forward to re-reading all of these once the hundred days are completed.

Day’s book is written perfectly in her voice – irreverent, with gameplay, fantasy, oddities, and fun, and truly speaks to my Gen X brain. I found some of the exercises nostalgic, some tough to get through, but mostly they were deep thoughts that could be examined seriously or frivolously. And one of the good things about Embrace Your Weird, is you can return to it and try the opposite tack – if you began frivolously, now you can do the same exercise with a bit more serious take.

I thought returning to Felicia Day’s book during the solemn, contemplative time of Lent would be a double exercise to explore myself, my spirituality, and my awkward outwardness.

Embrace your weird, and give Embrace Your Weird by Felicia Day a try. I’m excited to return to it in the next days.

Wise Words to Begin Your Lenten Journey

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In this regard, I would like to invite you to a very practical and frequently unappreciated form of abstinence: that of refraining from words that offend and hurt our neighbor. Let us begin by disarming our language, avoiding harsh words and rash judgement, refraining from slander and speaking ill of those who are not present and cannot defend themselves. Instead, let us strive to measure our words and cultivate kindness and respect in our families, among our friends, at work, on social media, in political debates, in the media and in Christian communities. In this way, words of hatred will give way to words of hope and peace.

-Pope Leo XIV

You can read Pope Leo’s full message here.

Check in for Lent

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Lent has snuck up on us again this year. It is quite early with Easter happening the first weekend in April.  I just finished listening to Fr. James Martin’s Ash Wednesday podcast, and it reminded me of many of the things that I want to do to make my Lent intentional. As with the last few years, I am not giving anything specific up. I am going to continue to be intentional in what I am taking in whether that is food, candy, drink, or media. I want to put more thought into the things I’m doing, saying, and bringing into my life.

This year marks the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Francis, and Pope Leo has declared this to be a Jubilee Year in his honor from January 10, 2026 through January 10, 2027. There are all kinds of ways to earn plenary indulgences and what not, but that’s for someone else.

Another exciting event this year is that it is the 350th anniversary of St. Kateri Tekakwitha’s baptism. This happened right here in New York state, and the shrine in Fonda will be celebrating. One way is by having mass on Easter Sunday, which is her baptismal anniversary to the day.

Some of my other Lenten Intentions include:

Continue reading

Election Connection: Jesse Jackson (1941-2026)

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When I was in college, so somewhere between 1984 and 1988, I saw Jesse Jackson give a speech. We were in some kind of gymnasium with metal folding chairs, and I can still picture him up at the podium, I was about halfway back. I feel like he was wearing a grey suit. His hair was not as big as in the picture but it also wasn’t close-cropped as in later years. He did have a mustache. I remember a raised fist.

I didn’t remember him as the civil rights icon that he was even then. I only knew him as the Presidential candidate, and I was ready to vote for him.

At this time in my life, I was a pre-law, political science major, and to say I was a political junkie would be an understatement. Every morning I’d wake up and put on the television to the one station we could get in the dorms – ABC for the news. It would be on constantly. Before the 24 hour cable news, my TV was news, news, news even if I wasn’t in the room.

Seeing Jesse Jackson in person was exciting. The room was electric, and his preacher’s voice carried. I was all in. (The photo I chose above is not recent. I wanted one to reflect how he may have looked when I saw him in person.)

He didn’t become president but I think he was more influential as an activist than as a politician. He was one of the OG civil rights heroes, next to John Lewis, Ralph Abernathy, James Lawson, Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King, Jr, often literally.

Rest in peace, Rev. Jesse Jackson. In peace and in power.

Obituary from the LA Times

Wikipedia from Rev. Jackson’s 1984 presidential campaign

Mental Health Monday – Lent Edition

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I’m seeing a lot of concerns and posts on Threads (which is my main source of social media) about suicidal ideation, reaching out, is reaching out a codependency or a cry for help, is it merely speaking your truth “into the void”. I am not suicidal, any more. I am hyperaware of my mental health, and when I feel it diminishing, I reach into my coping tote bag (or toolbox) and see what will work *this time*. (For my story, you can search my tags for /my42, /mental-health) My evergreen go-to is writing, lists, and me time away from work and  home. I must admit that I’ve adopted “me time” from my daughter. She is fierce about her space and her alone time, in her private room in the evening, and on her days off. She has taught me so much about how important self-love and self-care is.

As Lent approaches (T-minus two days, one and a half really), again, I have not decided on an item to give up, I have not decided on a spiritual practice to adopt for the next forty days, I have not moved into a Lenten mindset. Home is harried. Work this week is harried. My writing classes and groups that I’ve committed to are harried. And I love all three of them, so my object isn’t to make the times in them go away, or worse or negative for me or the people around me. It looks like it’s time for a few lists.

But lists aren’t the only mental health tool or adaption that I’ll need this week.

I’ll also need time.

We all do.

Even when I was a stay-at-home mom and my kids were in school for most of the day, I still needed to make time, bide my time, reserve my time, reclaim time. How is time simultaneously fleeting and standing still? Of course, it matters what we are doing with those times – vacations speed by, the work day slides along slowly. Paychecks come late,and bills come early.

For the next forty days, we of the Catholic faith will try to be better, with the help of G-d, but truly for ourselves. What can we do to make ourselves better? What can we do to make our lives better? What can we do to make the world better?

Whether you follow the forty days of Lent until the Resurrection of Easter or it’s just almost spring for you, think about how you can rest in yourself, how you can reset, and recover your mental health, to be healthy in ways that work for you.

I’ll return to this subject on Wednesday when Ash Wednesday begins the Lenten season, and I will hopefully have something to add that I’ve come up with for myself.

Until then, do something quiet and peaceful for yourself, and be.

Stranger? Things

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It’s been more than six weeks since the final, final chapter of Stranger Things, and I thought I’d think about the discourse surrounding the Stranger Things fandom at that time that’s been bordering on psychosis. According to people on the internet, January 8th was the day that the “real” series finale was supposed to drop – episode 9 because the New Year’s Eve finale didn’t give the fans what they wanted. I hate to break it down into a generational thing but kids today…

I mean dude can you be any more self involved and relishing of your main character syndrome? This show, the entire decade of five seasons was a true love letter to Gen X, those of us who grew up without the internet, dragging the ridiculously long telephone cord into a closet to talk, sneaking in after a showing of Rocky Horror and diner dessert.

Watching the discourse about continuity errors and plotholes that didn’t exist, the theory that the whole thing was a dream – been there, done that thank you very much Bobby Ewing; that it was a failed Dungeons & Dragons game or in someone’s head – again been there done that, thank you very much St. Elsewhere. We’ve lived through it all, and those of us who did, knew the Duffer Brothers wouldn’t do us dirty like that.

Google is free. It wasn’t available in the 80s, but it is available now. Please use it and stop driving those of us who were there crazy. We are becoming impatient with you. We are begging you – get some media literacy.

I can’t believe I need to explain that there was a world of experiences before you were born, before streaming, before reboots, so here’s a rundown that even my kids got:

  • Godzilla came out in 1958. Black and white. In Japanese. Dubbed.
  • Mission: Impossible was a very popular television show in the late 60s, mid 70s. Peter Graves, Steven Hill, Leonard Nimoy – yes, Mr. Spock.
  • Big Brother has been a thing since 1948 and George Orwell’s 1984. We read this in high school, and if you didn’t, please read it now.
  • It’s 10pm, do you know where your children are? Yes, we were never home.
  • Skateboards were totally a thing.
  • Yes, suburban moms went to the pool, worshiped the sun with oil and reflectors, and flirted shamelessly with the jacked up lifeguards.
  • My parents’ house cost $48,000 in New York, on Long Island. Yes, Mike’s family could afford that house.
  • Steve could be a coach/sex ed teacher easily without college. My friend substituted in his small town with a high school diploma. A coach was hired for his coaching skill and given a class, usually health or whatever was considered sex-ed at that time. Hell, I taught biological reproduction as a substitute with a high school diploma in 1987!
  • We played D&D in school and in our parents’ basements. However in my case we did not use little figures – it was all books and papers, graph paper, and homemade maps.
  • We lived on TV dinners and Tang.
  • We called the corner store a luncheonette. There was a counter and real glasses for milkshakes and egg creams. It was right next to Kenny’s. When Kenny retired form the drug store, we still called it Kenny’s. Same with the deli. Hell, it’s a baby furniture store now, and I still call it Kenny’s!

And another thing do you think if it weren’t actually the finale that the Duffer Brothers and Netflix would have paid Prince’s estate for the use of not one, but two songs?! He licenses nothing – this was a big deal.,

Take your theories and write some fan fiction.

In the immortal words of Ferris, it’s over. Go home.

International Book Giving Day

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Here is a very simple list of my Top 5 books to give, to read, to re-read.

Happy Valentine’s Day and Book Giving Day!

  • The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life by Suleika Jaouad (one of my current reads!)
  • Armand Gamache Series of Books by Louise Penny
  • Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
  • Come Forth by James Martin, SJ (next on my reading list!)
  • The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish

Also check out Richard Osman’s and Bernard Cornwell’s books! All excellent.

Happy Reading!

Inspired in February

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I heard Mr. Esposito express this at an event online, and it stayed with me. I hope it can inspire you as well.

This was an offering leftover from a retreat (that I did not attend), and again, it is something that spoke to me, and stayed with me for the following few weeks.
Take from here what you need, and leave something in the comments for fellow readers.

Friday Food – What Were They Thinking?

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Last month, my husband and I traveled to the Albany area to see the Titanic Exhibition at the Schenectady Armoury. I had been there a while ago to see their Monet interactive exhibit, and I was excited for the Titanic.

We had visited the Titanic Experience in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 2017, and that was fantastic. It was a superb blending of the Northern Irish pride of having built the Titanic and a solemn, respectful balance of the tragedy.

I didn’t know what to expect in Albany.

To begin, its title is Titanic: An Immersive Voyage. Now, I get that these exhibits do have an immersive quality to them. You’re made to feel that not only are you at something like a museum exhibit, you are in the space. We walked the gang plank onto the ship, we stood on the main staircase, and in the screened room, we were on the ship as it crashed and sank. They even had a life sized lifeboat in the room for some people to sit in.

However, immersive? Really? For a ship that sank? I don’t know.

The second thing that made me side-eye things is pictured below. I did not buy these, but I was surprised to see them in the gift shop. They really will sell anything – Titanic themed ice trays.

Titanic

Themed

Ice

Trays

So there you go.