Posts on Women’s Voice & Power:
Yes, about Barbie . . .
. . . and internalized patriarchy and hope. One of the many problems with patriarchy is that we often cannot see it,...
Everything You Need
In the midst of life's ups and down, I am grateful for that which is steady, familiar, and comfortable. I haven't...
About South Stars
I was talking with a client a few weeks back who can honestly and confidently state that she is strong and powerful...
I am NOT the Crazy One!
No big surprise: I love books! A ton of them are on my Kindle and most of the time I’m good with reading the “virtual”...
“I’m so proud of you!”
I have had conversations with clients in past weeks where a sense of self-pride showed up . . . and then was...
About “someday”
You know of Lizzo, yes? Her music, her recent show on Amazon — Watch Out For the Big Grrrls, her incredible voice as a...
About the Ocean and Anguish
I’ve spent a lot of time at the beach lately. As soon as we arrive, my 9-year-old niece Grace, runs to the water, her...
Not practicing what I preach
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my desire. No. That’s not quite true. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my...
About peanut butter, shame, and old stories
I was journaling the other morning and flashed on a memory from close to 50 years ago… I snuck into the kitchen when I...
About hearing voices…
Yes, let’s talk about hearing voices…And (just a bit) about RAISING our voices and being countercultural! Over the...
About unexpected change and then some
I didn’t expect to move from Washington to North Carolina 2 months ago. The prospect didn’t even enter my conscious...
Wisdom from Dr. Sharon
I came across a Facebook post by Brene Brown a few weeks back. She was talking about her recent conversation with...
3 ways to be fear-defying in writing and life
When I look back over 17 years of blogging, here’s what stands out to me: My voice has fluctuated, depending on the...
Does it feel costly to be yourself?
Let's be honest: it does feel costly to be ourselves. Maybe not all of the time, but certainly in some relationships,...
How to Trust Your Inner Wisdom
I could offer you a whole bunch of reasons why you can and should trust your wisdom, why it’s reliable, why it’s...
The Voices in Your Head
Maybe it's only me, but no matter how long it's been since some of my less-than-stellar stories took place, I still...
No imagination required…
There’s a story I love to tell of a mostly unknown woman named Jael. She singlehandedly won a huge battle for a whole...
The Divide between Silence and Speaking
Jan Richardson, one of my all time favorite writers and poets, has a poem called Having Taken the Fruit. Here are the...
Amelia Earhart. Agency. Taking action.
Amelia Mary Earhart was born July 24, 1897. In her short life, she was the first female aviator to fly solo across the...
A late-night text
I’ve been thinking about the wisdom that has shaped much of my life. I’m grateful for some of it, to be sure. There’s...
The how-to’s of being “big”
In my last post I named the ways in which we have transmuted being small into our very DNA. This is not the kind of...
If we could have coffee together…
If you and I were sitting across from each other, sipping coffee, it would be inevitable that eventually I would tell...
Militancy + Hope + Desire
(A Sunday Sermon, of sorts - even though it's not a Sunday...) To refuse to participate in the shaping of our future...
The you you know best
Who would you be if you didn’t hold back? If all your power, compassion, love, and strength roared into any room, any...
You’re Allowed to Run
It is excruciating to be the victim of someone’s scorn, passive-aggressive behavior, or blatant harm. All of us have...
I’m right about this…
Chances are pretty high that if your desire is strong enough, acute enough, and impossible to dissuade, others will...
These Stories Still Speak
I’ve been awake since 4:30 this morning. Uncharacteristically, instead of lying in bed and trying to tame my...
Women Joining & Healing
I feel like I am drowning in a sea of opinions, disasters, tragedies, trauma, harm, violence, and misunderstanding –...
Why do you write?
"Why do you write?" was a question recently asked of me. Here’s my answer: I write because it is the space in which I...
My Left-Hand Side
I did a quick mapping of my body the other day. Here’s what I discovered – from top tobottom: Many mornings, I wake up...
For now. Not forever.
I have felt more like a passive observer, than riled-up revolutionary since Donald Trump became president. Yes, I...
About Fall, Writing, and Letting Go
Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape...
My Three-Graces Season
I went in search of Renaissance art today, remembering that there was a particular period in which women’s bodies were...
Where the Women Gather (and why)
How might your life have been different if there had been a place for you? A place for you to go ... a place of women,...
The New Colossus
By Tanya Geisler For the last two years, I’ve been writing with a group of amazing women writers. Each week we...
Why didn’t you just say so?
I’ve been binge-watching The Newsroom for the past week. This morning I woke up far too early for a weekend-day....
What if you didn’t hold back?
Who would you be if you didn’t hold back? If all your power, compassion, love, and strength roared into any room, any...
A woman’s heart = experiencing God
From the beginning of time we have been asking questions about the Divine. The form, complexity, and context of the...
Using a Pseudonym
I’ve been wondering lately what I would write if I had a pseudonym, if I wrote with some super-secret name. Countless...
Letting Go is NOT Falling Apart
A wise woman tells me she gets this strong sense that I am unable to really let go; like I’m afraid of letting my hair...
Telling Myself (no more) Lies
I have recently uncovered an interesting belief I hold within. It’s not pleasant. And frankly, I’m not all that crazy...
I am not shocked by you.
There’s a story I love to tell of a mostly unknown woman who singlehandedly won a huge battle for a whole tribe of...
A poem. Some story. Lots of truth.
“Please understand me!”she cried.An impossible premisean impossible promiseimpossible, period. She cried“Please...
How to usher in the gods.
While at the movie theater last night, I sat enthralled through the trailer for Exodus: Gods and Kings. Out this...
3 Verses on Truth and a Refrain
Verse #1: There is good news. Nothing about you is broken. Nothing about you is wrong. Nothing about you needs foxing...
The other woman
Every once in a while, out of the corner of my eye, I glimpse the other woman. She looks so much like me, but wilder...
Go Into the Darkness.
Gazing into the mirror, I saw myself as I was – a black silhouette in the room, a woman whose darkness had completely...
Letting Silence Speak
I can feel the silence within me. It is deep, strong, dark, passionate, swirling, boiling, pulsing. A witch’s caldron....
Standing Ground & Donning Crown
Yes, standing your ground and donning your crown. Or...maybe choosing to remove it altogether! Once upon a time – or...
What I know for sure (about women)
What I know for sure about women; about us: When I read the ancient, sacred stories of women I am ever-finding...
An Imagined Conversation
Years ago I wrote a blog post about “intertextuality.” It’s a literary concept that supposes a relationship between...
It’s a relief to tell the truth.
"It’s a relief to speak the truth. I don’t have to pretend." ~ Karen Maezen Miller My thoughts about truth-telling are...
Rebellion as a Spiritual Practice
Most if not all of us battle with the tension between our own desires, our deep sense of what’s most true, our certain...
About My Book
It feels WAY too far away to actually talk about, let alone celebrate, but still, I’m naming it: On 10.3.23 my book...
For Days of Self-Loathing
I came across a poem a few weeks back by Nikita Gill. The corner of the page was folded down — evidence that I’d read...
Stepping Into Fear
Every so often, when you’ve come into fear, you’ve walked away. What if today you held that tremble, and stepped into...
About Bridgerton & Romance Novels
A couple years back I devoured every novel in Julia Quinn’s Bridgerton series within a matter of weeks — far before I...
All the wisdom you’ll ever need…
I recently (re)watched The Matrix. It’s one of my favorites, to be sure. Even so, I’d forgotten about the Oracle....
1 quote and 3 (tiny) topics
The Quote: Re-vision–the act of looking back, of seeing with fresh eyes, of entering an old text from a new, critical...
About NOT living a conventional life
“Most of us live conventional lives. We want to avoid the discomforts that arise from complications. But the full,...
5 Ways to Have the Life you Desire
Here’s the quick version of this post: Hold fast to what you most desire. Name what you want. Acknowledge what’s bound...
3 Ways to be Determined & Wise
There’s an ancient, sacred story told of a woman who had the capacity to influence a man of power, who was adamant...
How Courage is like Ballroom Dancing
My favorite movie of all time is Strictly Ballroom. It’s an Australian film from 1992. Quirky. Hilarious. Endearing....
Acknowledging the Choices that are Ours
I received a frantic call from one of my daughters a month or so ago. She was in a desperate state, I was scrambling...
4 Way to Hear Your Own Wisdom
It’s taken me years (and years and years) to acknowledge that I had wisdom that was uniquely, distinctly mine, let...
The Power of Childhood Stories
We rarely give a second thought to the stories of our childhood. Fairytales, religious myths, favorite books, legend,...
The struggle that IS worthwhile
I love Leo Tolstoy’s opening line in Anna Karenina: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in...
6 Ways to Access Your Inner Wisdom
It’s taken me a lifetime to learn that I can trust myself and my own knowing instead of needing to rely on external...
Wisdom does as Wisdom says
Women hold all the wisdom they could ever need, that the planet could ever need, that the world so desperately needs....
What’s left on the cutting room floor?
Each morning, lately, I have been reading from a book with 365 reflections. Some I resonate with; others, not so much....
Unraveling “small” on behalf of “big”
We must learn to be big in a way we’ve never been big - we must claim our right to take up space, to say our words, to...
Remember who you are
I was in a queer mood, thinking myself very old; but now I am a woman again – as I always am when I write. I love this...
A crossroad, a cliff’s edge, & decisions
Over a lifetime, we find ourselves at crossroads: a relationship, a marriage, a divorce, a career decision, a location...
Believing the Voice Within You
A voice dwells within you that can be trusted, that longs to be listened to, that consistently speaks truth. I...
3 Verses and a Refrain
Verse #1: There is good news. Nothing about you is broken. Nothing about you is wrong. Nothing about you needs fixing...
When Things Don’t Go as Planned
I’ve been thinking a lot, even more than I normally do, about my daughters. About the trials and tribulations that, by...
12 Years of Blogging
I find it almost impossible to believe that 12 years have passed since I meekly created a WordPress site and began...
My Inner Critic = The Patriarchy
I was recently organizing files on my computer (something I do when I intend to write, but instead find busy work…)...
Sacred Conversation with Your Heart – #6
Today concludes this 6-part series on (Sacred) Conversation with your Heart. I am hopeful, though, that it is just the...
Somewhere between Kali and Jesus
I am Kali Ma.I stick my tongue out of my once silent lips.These eyes, no longer mild,Are furious daggers of fire.~ a...
Goodbye, Twitter
I cancelled and closed my Twitter account last week. I’m almost hesitant to mention it; it was so undramatic But...
In line at Starbucks…
Although women’s words have been censored or eliminated from much of our heritage, in the midst of the pain of...
Bloodline
What if you claimed your legacy, your inheritance, your very bloodline? As a daughter of Eve – the best Eve, the...
Not seeing the forest for the trees (yet)
I don’t know about you, but when I read or hear the stories of amazing women (which is ALL the time), I have the...
Orlando: 2 words that matter
Yesterday morning my daughter told me about the mass-shooting in Orlando. I had no words other than “I’m so sorry” and...
Desire for Desire’s Sake
Desire is a tricky thing. To desire feels dangerous because we might not get what we want (and disappointment seems...
Boom-Boom, Boom-Boom
I often listen to podcasts in the morning. Out of the shower, getting ready for my day. Today’s didn’t really offer...
A Woman’s Fight
There’s an old, old story told of the patriarch, Jacob, who wrestled through the night with an angel-man, the Divine,...
Make your mark!
Stop listening to the insipid internal and external voices that tell you you’re inconsequential, that you don’t really...
The Wild Voice Within
There is a voice within that says more and edits less. It digs deep and dives down. It is impossible to embarrass and...
The Day I Spoke Up in Class
For most of my life I’ve been a rule-follower. I am really good at figuring out what’s expected and then never...
The Stunning Story that is Yours
I see the tears behind your eyes. I know about the lump in your throat. I hear the thoughts that swirl in your mind....
Get Out of that Kitchen!
There is an ancient sacred story told of two sisters – Mary and Martha. It goes as follows: As Jesus and the disciples...
The perfect way to stop a woman.
"I’ve seen women insist on cleaning everything in the house before they could sit down to write.... and you know it’s...
Maybe it’s (not) only me
Maybe this sounds familiar: You are in conversation with someone. As they are talking you hear another entire...
Holding my Breath.
I’ve been holding my breath lately. It’s a trying season as a mom. I feel heartache over a relationship’s end. And,...
Who would you be if you didn’t hold back?
Who would you be if you didn’t hold back? If all your power, compassion, love, and strength roared into any room, any...
For such a time as this.
Sometimes if not oftentimes, the circumstances in which you find yourself are the last ones you want. You look around...
Transforming Your Story (Part 3)
Transforming Your Story – The “How” Part 3 of a series. 12 posts scattered throughout 2014 on Transforming Your Story....
Expressing profound grief & fierce loss
There is an ancient story told of a widow whose only son died. With him went her last semblance of family, belonging,...
6 Words that Change Everything
You get to be 100% yourself, 100% of the time! It's true: this is 10 words (plus the two %-signs). I'm getting to the...
About Being Ordinary
The desire, temptation, and lure to live an extraordinary life is strong; to figure out our “one thing;” to do,...
About Being In Control
A few weeks back I was in a place I haven’t been for two-plus years: wearing a lavalier mic, standing in front of a...
Saying “no” (out loud) to shame
I’ve been thinking about shame a lot lately. I know it’s showing up because in the seemingly-endless writing/editing...
damned if you do and damned if you don’t
I have had numerous conversations with clients in past weeks about the "damned if you do and damned if you don’t"...
About the quiet and silence.
So often, I talk about a woman’s voice and courage and sovereignty. Yours. Mine. Ours. It matters. It is what I’m...
About Being an Outlaw
Yes, about being an outlaw...but also archetypes and exhaustion and self-care and then some. The dictionary defines an...
What Matters in a Broken World?
I’ve been sitting with a particular question lately that haunts me, in many ways: How are we to make sense of our...
About Ukraine (and a woman’s anger)
My predominant emotion related to the war on Ukraine is anger. Which then begs a few questions: What am I to do with...
Telling Your Truth (and being a volcano)
I find it fascinating (and frustrating) that as children we are taught lying is definitely not OK. Ironically, as...
The Voices in Your Head
As women, there are times in which we are nearly overwhelmed by the voices in our head, the subtle and less-so...
Why I Left My Corporate Job
My thoughts on fear, courage, and being an entrepreneur. In January of 2018 I left my 10-year-old online business for...
About Courage & American Ninja Warrior
I do not know how to explain why I love American Ninja Warrior. My youngest daughter and I started watching it a few...
See yourself as a miracle
When I was 8 or 9, my newborn sister went into the hospital. I don’t remember the details. I don’t remember ever...
Remember Who You Are
I talk about sovereignty all the time. It’s a program I offer. But more than all else, it’s a reality, a truth, that I...
Your Wild Voice Within
...the shadow of Wild Woman still lurks behind us during our days and in our nights. No matter where we are, the...
Smart. Responsible. Steadfast. (Or not…)
Smart.Responsible.Steadfast. These three are jailer’s cell.A clanking of keys;lockstep required. They demand,silence,...
Choosing others’ comfort OR choosing self
I have a library of personal stories in which I let others' needs demands overrule my own. I'm not proud of them,...
Hearing Voices
I am neck-deep in manuscript-writing these days. This book, my book, this thing I've been nurturing and holding and...
Choose life – and life – and life
There is an ancient story told of a woman who did not waver when the situation demanded swift (and brilliant) action....
Go Deeper Still, Still…
(I first published this post on 12/31/14. It seems to me to be as relevant as ever.) Go deeper still... You already...
She was a voice
I ordered and read The Book of Longings last week. Written by Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees and...
Retrieving the Fragments
Although women’s words have been censored or eliminated from much of [our] heritage, in the midst of the pain of...
Stories that Still Speak
I’ve been awake for hours. Christmas tree lights on. Coffee made. Fire lit. Snuggled up on the couch. Laptop on. I’ve...
4 Takeaways that Matter
I spend countless hours in the midst of the ancient, sacred stories of women - wanting and wondering how to tell them,...
As 2018 begins…
Rebecca Solnit has written a book called, The Mother of All Questions: Further Reports from the Feminist Revolutions –...
The deep and ever-present wisdom…
HEARING VOICES We all have at least one – often a legion of them. They speak when we least want them to. They show up...
Charlottesville
I feel a heavy, collective shame. I feel stuck, trapped even, between not knowing what to say or what to do and...
Sacred Conversation with Your Heart – #5
We’re moving toward the end of this 6-part series. I am hopeful it has done your heart good – especially given that...
Nevertheless, we persist!
On Tuesday, February 7, 2017, Senator Elizabeth Warren began to read a letter Coretta Scott King wrote in 1986 that...
Yes, yesterday. Now what?
Yesterday, November 9, 2016, I did all the things I always do: I made coffee. I journaled. I gave my daughter a hug...
So, I’ve written a book…
The subtitle is “A Braided Essay on Women and Silence and Shame.” And it’s published, printed, physical, able to be...
Handless Maidens and then some…
Two weeks ago I spent 6 days in the coveted presence of Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes. There were probably about 100 of...
It’s all going to end badly
A few weeks ago, while talking to my therapist, I mentioned my ongoing and haunting hunch that the archetype of the...
A Woman’s Story
There is an ancient, sacred story told of a woman who was prophetess and judge. No other story like hers exists in all...
The Scent of a Woman
I’m not sure how he knew to gift me with perfume, this particular perfume – this man I’d been dating only 6 months. I...
Tidings of Great Joy
It’s an early evening in December, 1966. I am six years old, standing on a stage, proudly fulfilling the prestigious...
What a Healed Woman Sounds Like
Once upon a time there was a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. She had been treated by...
Sometimes the best choice is to RUN!
It is excruciating to be the victim of someone’s scorn, passive-aggressive behavior, or blatant harm. I’ve heard so...
Channeling Etta James
It’s just before 7:00 on Friday night. I sit in the high school auditorium, about the fifth row from the front, and...
Living in the in-between
Once upon a time, long before women had volition or will as to who they married, a search commenced for the perfect...
Chances are…
Chances are pretty high that if your desire is strong enough, acute enough, and impossible to dissuade, others will...
This is why these stories matter!
My on-again-off-again spiritual practice is to read one of the ancient, sacred stories I sometimes so love and then...
Open the door. No matter what.
Same thoughts. Same frustrations. Same choices. Different day. To open the door, or not... Your hand trembles on the...
Speak your mind. Tell your truth.
She felt as though her life was some kind of hellish test; as though the universe was conspiring against her; like the...
I Am A Medial Woman
The Medial Woman...is a representation of the strong-sighted and deep-hearted self who lives simultaneously in the...
A letter to myself
Dear Me: Exhaustion. I see it. It’s down deep, far beneath the surface. A weariness that comes from holding on to your...
The 3 Secrets of the Gifted Soul
“Since you were born gifted, you will never lead an ordinary life.” “Eccentricity is the first sign of giftedness. You...
The only piece of wisdom you will ever need
I (re)watched The Matrix a few nights back. I hadn’t seen it for years and it was even better than I remembered....
Speak the language women speak.
“We must learn to speak the language women speak when there is no one there to correct us.” ~ Helene Cixous You know...