Spiritual

St. Julian of Norwich

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Today is the Feast Day of Julian of Norwich. I first became familiar with her when my new-to-me parish priest quoted her, and I found that it was eerily similar to my own mantra, “It’ll be okay.”

All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing be well.

She was an anchoress and mystic, locked in a cell for prayer and contemplation. Her writings are the earliest surviving works in English and attributed to a woman.

Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

Two years before I learned of her, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of her in his General Audience in Paul VI Hall on the 1st of December, 2010. It can be read here.

You can also visit her shrine in Norwich, England.

In Our Time – Julian of Norwich from the BBC:

May I?

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As I mengtioned on Thursday, May is Mental Health Awareness Month. There’s also May Day, and May the Fourth, and Cinco de Mayo. Plus college graduations, Memorial Day, and the “official” start of summer.

Today is three spcial days that should be acknowleged and observed, each with their own reverences.

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Feast Day of St. Kateri Tekakwitha (in Canada)

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(c)2025

This is the feast day of St. Kateri Tekakwitha. She died on this day in 1680 at twenty-four years of age. Since that time, miracles have known to have occurred through her intercession. In two more days, is the anniversary of my own conversion.

The photo above is at her tomb where her earthly remains rest at the St. Francis Xavier Mission Church in Kahnawake, Quebec. This is at the National Canadian Shrine of St. Kateri Tekakwitha.

I’m looking forward to the celebration of her feast day in the US in July, and my visit to this shrine and her tomb in June, partly for intensive research, but also hopefully to attend mass while we’re there.

St. Kateri, pray for us.

Bring Them Home

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It’s the first night of Passover. The matzo is broken, the chicken is eaten, the food is away. The kitchen is cleaned and families are still missing their people; still held hostage after over 500 days.

But we have hope

We have faith

We have our Collective

and together today as Moses said then, “Let. My. People. Go.”

I wrote this on the first night of Passover, which was Saturday. That was also the night that someone tried to burn the Pennsylvania Governor’s house down, and as we’ve heard since had planned to beat the Governor with a sledgehammer. That is not what this is about; sadly, we will have many more instances of antisemitism to speak out.

A New Year of Inspireds

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We haven’t gotten through the first week of January, and our potential is still out there. Still within us, ready to break forth. Our ambition. Our motivation. Our inspiration. How will we keep it at the forefront in the coming months?

I’ll share five ways that I plan on being inspired this year.

round button colored green with three sentences: 1. Ankose 2. Everything is connected 3. Tout est relie
  1. Remember that everything *is* connected, and look at the world that way. How is what I’m doing affecting the people and spaces around me? Be aware. Be present. And sometimes, be still.
  2. Setting Intentions. I have a great new planner for the year and it has space for weekly and monthly planning/goals/ progression, and I’m hoping to stick with it all year.
  3. My writing group and their encouragement, their feedback, their continuing friendship.
  4. Taking what I need and leaving the rest. Good advice in any situation and hopefully will maintain lower stress even as the world becomes more stressful.
  5. Carry an umbrella, bring a sweater or hoodie, tuck a notebook and a pen in a bag, and go. Go forward. And take notes.
Inspired. (c)2025
Intentionality. (c)2025
Inclusivity. (c)2025
Interconnectedness. (c)2025

My four words for the beginning of the year. They may stay all year; they may transform; they may be added to or replaced. And that will be okay because it will be what I need at that moment. Follow along and let’s see how it goes.

Inspired. Intentionality. Inclusivity. Interconnectedness. 2025.

Intentions-Inspirations-Resolutions

round button colored green with three sentences: 1. Ankose 2. Everything is connected 3. Tout est relie
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For readers who have been here for awhile, I rarely if ever declare or think about New Year’s Resolutions. That changes this year. After the election, I’ve been inundated with lies and misinformation, not to mention the focus on stupidity rather than real news, and I am damn sick of it. That led me to think about my life and my writing.

I may have already written about my new job, but I started working in October, and it is the kind of place that feeds my soul. I have never had a job like this before, and every day is a joy to be there, and that allows that joy to follow me home. It’s been a good couple of months.

Obviously, I’m disappointed (understatement) about the election. I hope we can get through the next two years, and use the midterm elections to return to sanity. My first Election Connection of the new year will appear in this space next Tuesday.

As I mentioned yesterday, I am really proud of my series writing, and those will continue. In addition to Election Connection, there will be more Mental Health Monday, monthly Inspired and Friday Food posts, and I’m hoping for a return to Penny Prompts – the writing prompts based on Louise Penny’s writing and her Armand Gamache mystery series.

Those are both my intentions and my inspirations and I hope to find more throughout the year. You will find more of my new year’s thoughts below the cut.

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