Magical Memoir Moments
Memoir and Love: The Vital Connection
All during the long holiday season/vacation I took this year, I have been mulling over the connection between memoir and love. Intuition tells me things that I can only later articulate. This has happened to me all my life. I love the story, whether it be true or apocryphal, that Einstein saw himself riding on…
Helen Alderfer, Poet, Mother, Wise Woman, Role Model
My husband Stuart gave me a book for Christmas I did not know existed–a pleasant surprise indeed. Helen Alderfer, an early woman leader in the Mennonite Church and someone I have long admired, has published a book in her 90th year. I have always loved reading about people who keep achieving their dreams well into…
My Stroke of Insight: A Spiritual Memoir
I will cut to the chase on the last night of the year 2008. I loved this book. I read it nearly in one sitting, fascinated by the straightforward telling of an incredible story. Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist working at the Brain Bank at Harvard University, woke up one morning with a headache…
Small Things with Love: A Mini-Memoir
What makes us happy? Is it winning the lottery or getting a surprise million-dollar legacy? In our current economy, such windfalls might sound even better than usual. I haven’t seen Slumdog Millionaire (see trailer here) yet, but I gather that such a fantasy becomes reality in that film. Once I see the film, I will…
Vacation: A Mini-Memoir
I grew up on a farm where the term “vacation” had absolutely no meaning. We did not load up the five kids into the car and take off for the Pacific. In fact, though we were only 75 miles from the Atlantic, we never went to see that, either. The highlight of my summers as…
Spiritual Autobiography Workshop II
Yesterday I led a second workshop on spiritual autobiography at my church. Most of the people who attended the first one came back, and about ten new folks showed up also. The big table was full! We shared a meal together, recalling rituals from our childhoods–mealtime prayers both serious and comical, night-time prayers. We talked…
Conversations with Four Wise Women Authors
I traveled to California for the Fetzer Institute to visit with board members, meet with a colleague at the Skoll Foundation, and attend a fundraiser for Youth for Environmental Sanity (YES!), the Purpose Prize Award ceremonies/ Encore Careers Summit. As snow was flying in Kalamazoo, I was watching the sun rise over the bay in…
Unreliable Truth: On Memoir and Memory by Maureen Murdock
One of the wise women I am honored to have in my life, Angeles Arrien, recommended this book to me. I found the book thoughtful and provocative, a wonderful distillation of many years of reflection both on the author’s personal story but also on the process of living, reflecting, writing, and transforming. Reading this book,…
A Second Workshop on Spiritual Autobiography
Tomorrow I lead a small group of colleagues in a workshop much like the one I taught at my church several months ago. I will again use the Marilyn Chandler McEntyre’s essay published in Weavings. But this time I will also talk a little about Tristine Rainer’s book,Your Life as Story, which I am enjoying…