Writing

The Journal of Elements and Seasons

All new writing is posted on my Substack, The Journal of Elements and Seasons. Subscribe and receive monthly reflections and poems, creative prompts, and prayer inspiration.

From the Blog Archive:

Writing from 2010-2021

The Wasp

A few weeks ago a Queen Paper Wasp started hanging around my kitchen window. I stood at my sink and watched her work. First she affixed a bit of wasp glue and let it create an ever so elegant drip, the point of which expands daily. She’s building a nest. I know I should get…
Listening to Noise

Yogah cittavrttti nirodhah “Yoga is the cessation of the movements in the consciousness.” Yoga Sutra 1.2 translated by B.K.S. Iyengar People often say to me, “I can’t meditate or do yoga because I can’t turn my brain off.” Which is true. You can’t turn your brain off. The nature of the brain is circuitry; neurons…
Blooming

“I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I’ve never let it stop me from doing a single thing I wanted to do.” ~ Georgia O’Keefe When I look at the women I admire, they have all taken risks. There’s Lila, my first yoga teacher and mentor, who closed her studio, moved to…
Traveling with Jesus and Persephone

When I was pregnant with Cole I imagined how powerful I would feel when I gave birth. I pictured myself heavy with the strength of a goddess. I was not prepared for the emotional reality of that companion. I may have looked like I was handling the process well, breathing through each contraction and the…
Death Meditation Part Two: The Risk of Love

When I was in middle school I was obsessed with the One Last Wish book series by Lurlene McDaniel. With such dubious titles as Let Him Live, and Sixteen and Dying, they were basically romance novels except with terminal illness. Even at ten I was exhausted by life and harbored a secret longing to be…
Dancing in the Dark

Last week the Facebook algorithm asked me if I cared to remember this post from four years ago. Due to waking up too early in the morning I’ve started doing my practice in the dark, next to my bed. If you’ve never done yoga in the dark, try it! There’s something so peaceful, so restorative…