Whew! It's time to shed all that's binds. Really. It's time. I'm not just talking shedding the restrictive, heavy layers of winter clothes though I'm definitely on board with that (Hello Spring!). I'm talking about loosening and releasing in mind-body-spirit ways any stuckness, stagnation, or tightness we fell into along the way. RUTS. Ruminations or Habits of Heart and Mind which bind. This is your invitation to exhale and loosen. Like how, during energy readings when I see rust color in...

No heroics or guilt required. Just willingness to go into, and as, the wilderness the way ancient Israelites and Jesus did, accompanied by the ministry of angels. Learning to be receptive, unclenched, and open like the wilderness itself. Not--as a Scottish bee-keeper, rosary maker, and monastic wisdom lover put it-- to prove your devotion. "Not beat your body into submission. Not become spiritually impressive. Just: make space.Just: return." Perhaps as a 40 day practice of, say, 5...

Prayer as an open, spacious, receptive quality of mind and heart. Being like an open Iowa field. (photo: Deer path in Iowa Field along Standing Rock road during morning prayer run, 2025 by cqe) That was the longest January ever. Normally I'm a lover of winter. It's contemplative wisdom too, especially concerning the nurturance of solitude (different from loneliness), slowing down, and rest. Breathing into restlessness until, borrowing words from the T ao...