Category Archives: Uncategorized

Eleven Words That Set Me Free

I was sweating through a Bikram Yoga class in Omaha, Nebraska a decade or more ago when the instructor gently dropped these words into my consciousness.

“You do your part and let the Universe do its part.”

WP_20131227_014

Turns out, I don’t HAVE to overwork, overachieve, or overcompensate.  When I do, I realize I’m attempting to play all the roles.  A deeply ingrained habit.

In just doing my part, I’ve found the beauty that comes with truly accepting a helpmate.  And, while it may sound funny, I’m often genuinely surprised by the Universe’s generosity and grace.

In an interview with a Seattle NPR affiliate, Maher founder and director Sr. Lucy Kurien described it this way, ” Divine strength was there.  It walked with me and worked within me.”

I woke up a little bit more in yoga that day.  Of course, I still forget and try to do both parts on a regular basis.  It’s just that now when I do, I notice a little faster.  Deep gratitude to my partner, the Universe, and to the wise bearer of these eleven words.  Namaste~

To listen to the 6-minute interview with Sr. Lucy Kurien and Gaus Sayyad, visit  http://kuow.org/post/burned-baby-night-changed-sister-kuriens-mission

 

 

 

 

30,265,800 Minutes

cropped-nvn-header.jpgAs of yesterday, that’s the number of minutes I’ve inhabited Planet Earth during this journey.  More than 30 million opportunities to live, learn, work, play, rest, enjoy, grieve, serve and love.

I’ve been thinking about this calculation almost daily since last January when I clicked on the memorial video a dear friend’s family had posted.  Filled with photos of her life’s momentous, touching and funny moments, it was set to Seasons of Love, the unforgettable song from the Broadway musical Rent.

If I live as long as my dad, I have roughly 13,359,000 minutes left.  If I make it a century, 22,294,200 minutes remain.  Whether I reach a sum total of 43 or 52 million minutes seems far less important than the amount of love I pour into each and every one.

I’ll always be grateful to this beautiful woman and dear being and her family.  My view of the world and my place in it was forever changed by you.

Love always, Sherry

My Heart Writes about Catherine Place from India

Welcoming

September 5, 2010, Near Pune, India  “How refreshing to find a place (literally) willing to try something new, like the WE-CAN Women’s Circles.  This openness renewed my faith and my Spirit, which was worn out from being told all the reasons why something that had never been done before couldn’t be done, wouldn’t work, or wouldn’t be funded.  Finally, at last, a place that supports feminine and women’s ways of being and knowing without apology.

Little did I know that renewal would be only the first gift I would receive from the DIVINE Catherine Place.   I’ll always remember the day I bounded up the stairs and spoke with Judy and Peg about Cara and I going to Maher in India.  Judy’s comment, ‘That feels exactly right’ still rings in my ears and gave me the courage to make all of the necessary, and sometimes difficult, decisions such an endeavor would require.  And, I shall always be most grateful for the delicate and powerful blessing the Catherine Place Spirit Circle provided for our journey.  I have drawn on it many times already to ward off doubt and worry.

The Poetry Group cannot go unmentioned.  It allowed me to express the full measure of my content and dismay.  It gave me such joy to hear the innermost expressions of other poets and writers.

The WE-CAN Women’s Circles were intended to ‘encourage and support women as leaders.’  Catherine Place does this and, perhaps even more importantly, supports and encourages women as women.  This is vital if ‘The Future of the World Depends Upon Women,’ as Kofi Annan predicted and it is why I hold the vision of a Catherine Place in every city and state in the U.S.

In 1972, Marlo Thomas created Free to Be You and Me.  Catherine Place gives women the space and freedom they need to discover and become all that they can be.  I miss the energy and Spirit of Catherine Place every day and then I remember — it is with me.  You are a Tacoma and a U.S. jewel.  Blessings always”