Pause, Purpose, Possibility

Episode 11: On Transitions and Ellipses -- Living into the In-Between

I’ve been thinking a lot about transitions lately.  Shifts in life.  The long, slow turn into the New Year.  Some of it has been about change, loss, grief.  Letting go, moving on.  In this episode I tell the story of three small birds that have found their way down the chimney (even though the damper was closed), become trapped in the stove, and died.  "I slowly lift each one out with the fingers of my right hand and lay them side-by-side in the palm of my left.  Each is about two, two-and-a-half inches long, fuzzy dark gray feathers (such that they blend right in to the ashes in the stove), with short sharp beaks."
 
On the day after my encounter with these birds, a wise friend reminded me of the power and importance of ellipses.  In telling a story, he marked a crucial turn by saying “Dot, dot, dot,” verbally indicating the written device … that would signal a pause, an in-between space, the cusp or hinge between what has gone before and what’s yet to come.  His speaking them aloud, drawing them with his voice – dot dot dot – immediately brought to my mind’s eye the fuzzy gray mounds laying side by side across the palm of my hand – dot dot dot.    
 
There is power in attending to the ellipses in our lives, dwelling in the turn from what was to what might be.  Just being in it for a while. In threshold times we are invited to honor, grieve, appreciate, and learn from what lies behind us; breathe in the often astonishing, iridescent details of the here-and-now; and begin to turn to wonder about what’s yet to come.
 
 

Episode 10: Words Make Worlds

This episode will drop one day after the annual holiday honoring the life and legacy of the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr…. and some three months into the horrific war between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East, not to mention the ongoing war in Ukraine, and deepening political divisions in this country.  King managed to see beyond violence and hatred; his words and his life heralded the possibility of a different kind of world, and more just and life-giving way of being.  In my far-reaching conversation this week with my guest Jeremy Schraffenberger, we talk about (among other things) how words make worlds, and about whether it’s possible to do our work, to live our lives, in ways that people will stop killing each other.  We also talk about the Beetles, music as a means of gathering community, and about the malleability of memory in being human.
 
Jeremy Schraffenberger is editor of North American Review – the oldest literary magazine in the country, dating back to 1815, and a professor of English at the University of Northern Iowa, where he has taught for fifteen years. He is the author of two books of poems, Saint Joe's Passion and The Waxen Poor, and the forthcoming chapbook American Sad. In addition to writing, he says he strives for mediocrity when playing piano in a local band called The Favorites. He believes in radical mystery and the transformative experience of making and engaging with art. He lives in Cedar Falls, Iowa, with his wife, the novelist Adrianne Finaly, and their two young daughters.
 

On Trying Something New, Part 2

The turn of the calendar is often an occasion to reflect on where you’ve been and where you’re headed, to turn a fresh eye or open heart toward what you want to live into.  Some folks are big into making new years resolutions – I’m not among them, so this episode isn’t about that.  Instead, you’re invited to listen in on a living room conversation among friends.  We wonder with each other:  What's been sparking for you since our very first episode last fall, about Trying Something New?  What makes the difference between change that we experience as loss to be grieved, or as possibility to be embraced as an adventure?  What do we make of the “liminal” or space-between invitation to change, and our decision about whether and how to respond to the invitation? And in the spirit of what Annie Dillard says in her book, The Writing Life: “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives”:  How can we practice being who we are, and are becoming?

Change, Resilience, and Nature in the New Year

My kids grew up loving the "Magic School Bus" books and animated PBS series.  I had great help as a parent from the teacher in those stories, Ms. Frizzle, who was always reminding the kids (including my own): "Take chances! Make mistakes! Get messy!"  Michaela Rice, our guest today, has much the same attitude when it comes to experiencing and learning from the natural world.  In this conversation, she speaks with great honesty about the healing power of change and resilience in nature, in her own journey through depression and burnout, and her boundless gratitude for nature in the face of climate doom.
Michaela (she/they) is a Minnesota State Parks and Trails Interpretive Naturalist and was previously a research biologist for the state. Michaela has her Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Gustavus Adolphus College, and a Master of Science in Wildlife and Rangeland Management from Texas A&M University-Kingsville. As you'll hear, she is very excited about all things nature. The curiosities, wonderment, serenity, and complexity of natural processes caused her to pursue a career science. Now, she gets to share those precious moments with visitors to Gooseberry Falls and Split Rock Lighthouse state parks on the North Shore of Lake Superior. A highlight of her days is in connecting people -- especially children -- to the world around them through wellbeing practices, art, observing wildlife, and experiences like berry picking in the summer.  Michaela has a passion for helping injured animals and volunteers with the University of Minnesota Raptor Center. Michaela strives to be an ally in her community by speaking up and speaking out against daily prejudices and creating a sense of belonging for others.

Awe and Light: A Little Holiday Pause

The holidays are powerful times to celebrate the light that shines in winter's darkness.  They also tap into our capacity, our need, for awe and wonder.  The light of the holidays includes the awe-some and awe-inspiring light that we can bring to the dark places of fear and despair, hatred and brokenness of the world. 
Our "practice to take with you" this week is from Kelsey Maddox, who shares delightful stories of her family's experience of "awe walking."  She tells of a recent experience with her 11-year-old son which, she says, "pulled me away from my to-do list and all the swirling going on in my head about making the season magical or important, or the day good for my children, and the world a good and safe place -- it pulled me away from all the tendrils of the DOING-that and took me into this moment of BEING-that, of being in awe."

Burnout and Belonging: Being Present in Your Own Life

My guest today is my friend, the poet and educator Tristan Richards.  She talks with me about her own version of a journey that I’m guessing is familiar to many of you: a journey into overwhelm and burnout, fueled by the tangled morass of unrelenting professional demands and personal loss and grief, all while struggling to figure out the relationship – and distinction – between career and calling.  We wonder together, what does it mean to be truly present in your own life?
 
Tristan is the author of two self-published chapbooks: Not All Challenges Are For Us (2022) and The Year Was Done Right (2019). Her poems have been published in ALOCASIA, Writers Resist, trampset, Preposition: The Undercurrent Anthology, the Mankato Poetry Walk & Ride, and Firethorne. Tristan is most well known for creating and facilitating "Unfold: 30 Days of Writing in Community" (a daily poetry writing online workshop every April for National Poetry Writing Month) and other writing workshops. She holds an MA in Leadership in Student Affairs from the University of St. Thomas and a BA in Communication Studies from Gustavus Adolphus College. You can find her on Instagram at @tristanjrichards or at tristanwritespoems.weebly.com
 

Sort through the Voices that Tell You Who to Be

If you're like me, you're carrying around lots of "voices in your head," lots of internal self-talk that fuels a tendency to get in your own way. To what voices do you tend to give the most authority, and why? And what voices actually deserve your trust? What voices are worthy of your attention? How about these, for starters (in the words of a poem by adrienne maree brown): "You are enough ... / you are needed ... / you are here / and I am grateful."

The Power of Story and the Courage to Change the World

This week’s episode features conversation with special guest, award-winning author and photographer John Noltner. We explore the power of story to bridge division and build community, and the importance of doing things in life that feed your soul.
John is the founder of “A Peace of My Mind," a multimedia arts project that includes books, exhibits, workshops, onsite studios and public talks that using portraits and personal stories to bridge divides and encourage dialogue around important issues. 
A gifted storyteller, John has worked on 4 continents, gathering stories of human courage, grace, and resilience.  He has produced projects for national magazines, Fortune 500 companies, and nonprofit organizations.  His work, including A Peace of My Mind, reflects his belief that art and storytelling can help individuals, organizations, and communities to articulate their deepest values and encourage action toward building social capital and community connections.
John’s newest book, Lessons on the Road to Peace, will go on sale Dec. 15 on the A Peace of My Mind website (it'll also be available on Amazon.com) – chronicling and reflecting on the 2.5 year journey John and his wife Karen took crisscrossing the country, encountering people whose stories help a polarized world to rediscover the common humanity that connects us.

Up on the Granary Roof

On a hot summer evening just after sunset, a child climbs to the peak of the granary roof, and finds the quiet, the space, and the questions that will fuel and sustain a lifetime.
What does it mean to believe that you matter?
Who has helped you know that you matter, and how have they done that?
How do you help others to know that they matter?

A True (but Embarrassing!) Story about Milkweed

Here's the quick, true (and somewhat embarrassing) origins of this work, around shifting from a story of burnout and breakdown to one of living into one's truest and best self. 
 
On behalf of what kind of Story -- toward what vision of the world and your place in it -- do you want to live?  What is the Story that shapes, guides, orients, and sustains your work, your leadership, your daily life?