Reorientations + A Midlife Spirituality Reading Group

📖 Read to the end for a book club invitation! 📖

Photo by Jordan Madrid on Unsplash

It’s always so funny to figure out how to come back to writing after a break. Coming up in ye olde blogging days, the advice was “never apologize! Just start posting again!” And yet here I am, all these years later, still semi-apologizing for the accidental breaks.

Anyway, hi, hope summer has treated you kindly. Here in my part of the world there’s been a lot on the social calendar, and July was a blur of heatwave malaise and navigating the fun health / energy changes that come with your 40s. (In my heart I’ve nicknamed this season “Hot Peri Summer” and we’ll leave it at that for now.)

Creativity is seasonal, and summer is a time to connect with the people around me and go to all the celebrations I can. But once Target goes full school supply mode, it feels like it’s time to write again.

A little reorientation might be helpful. I’m planning to shift — or perhaps sharpen — the direction ever so slightly here. So here’s what I hope you can expect in the months ahead to the end of the year.

Where are the Poems?

A lot of folks have found their way here through

Rabbit Room Poetry

or all the activity around my book Beneath the Flood. I had The Sunday Poem series going strong throughout that launch season and it was so much fun.

And then the book was out in the world and I’ve had a hard time writing poetry ever since. Womp womp.

I loved doing that series and hope to bring it back in some form, but going forward, I’d like to shift toward other topics…

Those Other Topics?

I added a new Spiritual Direction page to my Substack website, and if you’ve read it, you might have a hint where this is going. I want to pursue this vocation more earnestly, and part of that work is knowing where my interests lie and leaning into those. About a year ago, I sketched a Venn diagram of the three things I most care about in this stage of life. And hey, they still hold up.

To remind myself, the Venn diagram on my office blackboard — Faith Shifts, Artists + Creators, Eco-theology.

• Faith Shifts + Thresholds —  We’re all familiar with people sifting through their faith traditions and figuring out how they relate to God and spirituality and religion. It’s a tender, multilayered experience that deserves to be explored with grace and curiosity. I like the language of “faith shifts” because it feels more inclusive than “deconstruction” and makes room for every part of that experience — the breaking down, the examining, the building up, the freedom on the other side. And “thresholds” can apply to so much more — life role transitions, aging, decision-making. This is the stuff that got me into spiritual direction in the first place, and I’d love to write about it more.

• Artists + Creators — Listen, the artists will always have my heart. I started out writing in faith and art spaces, and I still enjoy talking about books and music and films I enjoy. This could take the form of recommendation posts and reviews. But I’m also interested in thinking about the creative process, the ways creating is essential to being human, and some of the unique challenges artists and creators might encounter. And yes, poetry fits in here too.

• Eco-theology + a Flourishing World — How do we live well in a changing climate, think about our place in the natural world, and work together for the healing of our planet? I’ve got a stack of books on creation theology, Celtic spirituality, and Indigenous wisdom that I’ve been wanting to dive into. This is a lens that’s informing so much of how I think about the world right now, and I’d like to write more about it as I learn. This could also include conversations about sustainability, consumption, rethinking productivity culture, and so much more!

Two Invitations

Invitation #1: Is there anything here stirring your interest? Let me know! I’d also welcome any questions about spiritual direction in general, perhaps for a future series.

Invitation #2: In the spirit of thresholds, I’d love to invite you to join me and

Chris Yokel

for a midlife spirituality book club this fall! Chris has been reading Dear Heart Come Home by Joyce Rupp this summer and he says it’s the kind of book that messes with you in all the best ways. Though I haven’t read this one yet, a different book of hers messed me up last year so I fully trust this will be a good thing.

So here’s what we’re thinking: 8 weeks, starting mid-September and running through early November. (We’ll get you done well before the holidays.) We’ll cover one chapter a week and host a weekly zoom discussion space. My hunch is this is ideal for folks 35+ even if you don’t personally love the “midlife” label for yourself yet. :)

If you’re interested, fill out this Google doc and we’ll be in touch with more details!