Posts by Year

2024

Transformative Presence

August 20, 2024

9 minute read

I felt honored to be asked to lead a service and offer a sermon at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo on August 18, 2024.

Our Space

August 11, 2024

less than 1 minute read

Hold my space      When I’m here      When I’m gone There is no line There is always Us, each other

Remembrance

May 03, 2024

less than 1 minute read

Your love In our memories In your music In each other

Pregnant Rain

April 14, 2024

less than 1 minute read

This uncertain Spring Warm sun rays Tell of carefree summer days. Clouds, wind and snow Winter is not yet ready to go. Cool mists and pregnant rains Dodging ...

Involved

March 30, 2024

1 minute read

Sometimes I get so involved The room around me melts The people blur, their mouths mute My thing, my focus, my need.

My Muse

March 08, 2024

less than 1 minute read

My muse lives within me, Not in a muse-zeum. My muse is not a distant bird       To be called and welcomed as a guest. My muse is with me always       In my ...

Conflict Transformation

March 05, 2024

1 minute read

Over the past six months, I have participated in several trainings on Conflict Transformation led by Resetting The Table

De-escalation

February 14, 2024

less than 1 minute read

Peace Peace within me Inspires peace within you. Respect and care – that is all.

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2023

Unhoused Dreams

December 31, 2023

1 minute read

There is an inspiring and curiosity-provoking book about our attitudes towards and misunderstandings about homelessness in the United States. In this book, W...

What’s Next

December 11, 2023

less than 1 minute read

I sit here with my tiny brain Trying to comprehend all of this domain. Who am I to inflict my clumsy understanding on anyone, even myself? The spectre of dou...

Scarred Tissue

August 25, 2023

less than 1 minute read

Find the scars Agitate like Mars. Little battles within me Keep flowing towards harmony. Scarred tissue gets stuck Losing mobility, yuck.

Love All Of Them

August 15, 2023

less than 1 minute read

Be a person who loves all of yourself. Find a person who loves all of you. Love all of them.

Look Away From The Abyss

June 24, 2023

less than 1 minute read

Staring into the abyss I start to fall forward down. Branches I hit, ledges too. Obstacles race toward me I throw my momentum left I miss a ledge, that’s suc...

Ours Is To Let Them Be

May 25, 2023

1 minute read

Let them be. The pile of bags is pressed to the wall. There is a man in there. His jacket is caked with weeks of dirt. He may not want to talk or move. Let h...

Blind To What Is Real

May 15, 2023

less than 1 minute read

Driven to the cliff over the abyss. And thrust into the void like this.

Holding Another’s Heart

May 11, 2023

less than 1 minute read

Creating a space where one feels comfortable To open their chest To remove their beating heart To cradle it in their hands Mingled with your hands.

Let Go

May 07, 2023

less than 1 minute read

Let go! Let go the tension. Let go the nervous energy. Let go the worry. We are safe. This moment is for peace For rest.

I Am A Lot

April 26, 2023

less than 1 minute read

I am a lot, Even for me. My mind runs hot. My body feels pressure, Like a fire hydrant Ready to quench an inferno. Ideas flow through my flesh, rising to a r...

Power Does

April 16, 2023

less than 1 minute read

Power summons euphoria: Like a hit of heroin, Actively kissing your crush, Or an audience of thousands Singing your song back to you.

Don’t Put Me on a Pedestal

April 09, 2023

less than 1 minute read

I am a person. I am proud of my accomplishments. I have regrets for actions I’ve taken And for ones I might yet take. I love my friends. I am grateful for th...

A Vampire

March 23, 2023

less than 1 minute read

A vampire, seductively touching fangs to skin, offers either a climax to life and a cessation of wants or an unending life of passion and hunger. A neck roma...

Hello Brightness

March 06, 2023

1 minute read

Hello brightness, my old friend, Your presence is sure to mend. After a long dark winter, You glisten on the vestigial snow.

This Grace

February 27, 2023

1 minute read

Written at WRITE ON! on Feb 21, 2023 What more can I aspire to embody than grace? I love this so so much!

Pennies

February 16, 2023

less than 1 minute read

Walking down the sidewalk, Lost in my thoughts, Pondering whether to reach out to check on a friend today. My eye catches a spot in the dirt, Nestled among t...

Walk Like The Hermit Crab

February 15, 2023

1 minute read

Like sand crabs, Frantically scrambling across the beach, Moving from hole to hole, Escaping the rolling surf, The soaring birds, Any threat really.

Sharing an Idea

February 13, 2023

less than 1 minute read

An idea encased in a body becomes accessible as ink touches paper or as voice forms words.

Spring Is Here

February 12, 2023

less than 1 minute read

I am grateful to the Buffalo Ecstatic Dance community, and to the dancers who inspired this reflection today, February 12, 2023. The first day of spring. D...

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2022

The River Flows

December 30, 2022

1 minute read

The river flows       Whether we notice or not.

Team

November 22, 2022

less than 1 minute read

A team notices each others’ strengths and becomes aware of an individual’s limitations. A team fosters each player’s growth and feeds each person’s living sp...

Vote

November 08, 2022

less than 1 minute read

Vote Vote for someone you like. Vote for someone you respect. Vote for someone who represents you. Vote for someone who gets you.

Big Big Table

November 07, 2022

less than 1 minute read

Share-the-plate announcement for Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo

Mr. Eric Davis

October 10, 2022

less than 1 minute read

Remembering Eric Davis:

Life Is A Dance

October 03, 2022

less than 1 minute read

Life is a dance With each song, we get a little bit stronger. We make friends. We copy their moves. We keep those we like. We make them our own.

Be

September 18, 2022

less than 1 minute read

Be. Be in this world but not of it. Be like the cat perched atop the wood pile. Be like the rat living in the holes between labs. Be like the dog who goes am...

Home

September 09, 2022

less than 1 minute read

How do we build our home?

Ecstatic Summer

August 24, 2022

less than 1 minute read

This attempt to express the sensations of participating in ecstatic dance was written during an outdoor dance. The playlist was titled “All the colors of lif...

The Creative Spigot

August 22, 2022

less than 1 minute read

Over lunch at Big Big Table, Jesse said, “artists see what is and express it so that others can see it as well.” Writing, like other arts, builds up within t...

Boundaries

August 21, 2022

less than 1 minute read

Boundaries, they help us to color within the lines, to paint delicate visions that approach and even embrace each other, while maintaining distinct edges.

Leadership

August 01, 2022

1 minute read

What does it mean for most of us to feel overwhelmed much of the time?

Our Dreams

May 02, 2022

less than 1 minute read

Listening to others’ dreams lights me up. I shine as we explore lighting our way by them living into their dreams.

The Tree Towers Above

March 16, 2022

1 minute read

What is more beautiful than looking up at the green maple leaves emerging from the branches of a single trunk to create a canopy unto itself?

The Source Of Our Own Troubles

March 13, 2022

less than 1 minute read

We are sometimes the source of our own troubles. Knowing the “right” thing to say is no replacement for how we say it. Irritation, anger and condescension ha...

At Dance

March 06, 2022

1 minute read

Stress in the body is toxic. It causes pain and weakness throughout. It steals thoughts and drains one’s strength and motivation. So many dreams have died up...

Epiphany

January 03, 2022

1 minute read

Around the midpoint of my third-ever ecstatic dance, I leaned back into a couch amidst the dance and began reading from More To This Confession: Relational P...

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2021

Peace Is

September 13, 2021

less than 1 minute read

Peace is not an absence. Peace is a presence: a presence of quiet, Safety, Community, Connection, Love, Shared joy, Shared hope, Shared communication, And sh...

Sustained For Being Ourselves

August 26, 2021

1 minute read

We each want to be sustained for being ourselves. We all benefit when we are sustained for being ourselves.

Goals

August 25, 2021

less than 1 minute read

My goal is not to meet or exceed others’ expectations.

Peace Begins Within Us

August 24, 2021

1 minute read

Listen to oneself. Listen to one’s body. Above all, listen to one’s thoughts about peace within one’s mind, spirit and flesh. Peace begins within us. When on...

Walk With Peace

August 23, 2021

less than 1 minute read

Live for the beloveds we have lost. Live with the beloveds who are here.

Tales from the Utopia: Part One

February 18, 2021

1 minute read

Edgar found herself stuck in the snow. Her wheelchair could climb steps and travel for over an hour at speeds of up to 40 kilometers per hour, but it could n...

Athletes of Empathy

February 09, 2021

1 minute read

We are the meek. The quiet. We are the ones who put our bodies and our spirits out there to meet with those persons whom others would choose to forget. We pe...

A Bug A Boot Too Baguba

February 06, 2021

1 minute read

I feel a pin stuck deep into my back spreading me open like a butterfly on a board, constraining my movement, my thoughts, my feelings. I feel crushed under ...

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2019

A Love Letter To SF

September 19, 2019

1 minute read

I spent my 20’s following passions while trying to please others. I followed a prescribed path that kept my mind stimulated and my financial-future secure.

I See A World

September 12, 2019

1 minute read

What does it mean to be paying attention and seeing the world that is trying to be born?

Discovering the Enneagram

April 06, 2019

1 minute read

Three years ago, a person with whom I connected poorly introduced me to the Enneagram. As our relationship warmed, the Enneagram became more interesting. The...

5 Rules

April 03, 2019

less than 1 minute read

Rules to live by

Presence is …

March 21, 2019

1 minute read

The Faithful Fools’ mission statement begins, “We are called to a ministry of presence.” At first, I had little idea what presence even meant. Over time, I f...

Friendship Is A Sheltering Tree

March 05, 2019

1 minute read

Walking with my Grandpa Walter was a joy. He was so kind and friendly, connecting with friends and making new friends well into his nineties. He always made ...

A Weeklong Retreat

March 04, 2019

2 minute read

Where better to begin than with the letter I sent to friends and family about what compels me to go on retreat?

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