Category: Practices

  • A Hat Trick For Supporting Curiosity and Growth

    I have a little trick, it’s kind of silly, but it helps me when I’m in trouble. I do it whenever my attitude isn’t great or I feel resistant about something I have to do. I call it the “hat trick.” While I consider myself to be an open person, excited to learn new things,…

  • Let’s Get Bored Together: The Practice of Silence and Resisting the Attention Economy

    I am teaching a class this semester at Guilford College called, “The Practice of Silence.” The class is both what it sounds like and a lot more. We are studying the Quaker theology behind the Quaker practice of silence but we’re also studying it from the broader lens of building focus, attention, and learning how…

  • Grief is Disconnection

    A repost from November 16, 2022 Today, I was approached by a member of my workplace about hosting a space for grieving for folks who continue to struggle after painful decisions made in 2019-2020. The desire for this person was to process grief with the hope that we could find a space to do that…

  • A Ritual to Read to Each Other by William E. Stafford

    I love William Stafford‘s poetry. I came across him when we were still living in the Pacific Northwest where he is from. The first poem of his I heard from Parker Palmer when I participated in a renewal retreat with him years ago. It’s a poem I have used in countless writings and presentations: The…

  • Elizabeth Gurney Fry’s Checklist

    I’m am interested in checklists, setting annual goals for myself, and working on specific habits I want to create or break. For example, I am currently working on a 2020 goal of “building a consistent habit of exercising.” So far I have been successful at this goal, going to the gym 4-5 times a week…