We can all be greater than this.

There is space in my heart for loneliness.

That’s how I know it is getting better.

There is space in my chest for longing.

That’s how I know hope will come to call.

There is space.

in my heart. in my chest. 

On becoming a counselor

I feel so privileged, blessed and honored to have found my calling in life.  I am so aware that finding a calling, a career that fulfills, renews and challenges me every day is a rarity.  I know enough people to know that most of us putter through our work lives clocking in an out.  The job is the means to an end.  In many ways, my career is its own end.  I am certain is bringing me closer to God, to myself, to the binding force in the universe. There are parts of this path that are dark.  That darkness and challenge is necessary.

For so many people, the types of philosophical thinking that I am required to engage in daily is a luxury.  This pursuit feels indulgent, even with the awareness that it is necessary.  There are some in society who will work, and build.  There are creators.  There are interpreters, and guides.  I am so humbled that I have been chosen to be an interpreter.  

My work is transformative.  Not just for me, but for the client.  This quality is rare.  Again, I am back to the privileges of this work which is married to the responsibility of this work.

This path feels righter, better and happier than anything I have ever done.

I want to believe every promise you make me. 

I want to surrender into your words

and trust that they will be the ground

this is our earthquake, baby

when everything shakes.

moves shifts

tumbles down

I’m sorry 

doesn’t even begin.

those few nights

we spent on the phone. 

you were marvelous company.

Those few nights

2011 Best Music

Like everything else in my life this year, this list wrote and erased itself a hundred times at will.  Change is the only permanent, unchanging thing in the universe. The magic is in the paradox, I guess.

So now, my list. It’s not in order because choosing just ten albums is enough without trying to rank them.

Adele - 21  I love this album.  I wasn’t immediately sure how I felt.  The slicker production, bigger hooks and pop melodies were different from the brooding of 19.  In the end, I love a good party and this album is a good party.  You sing, you dance, you daydream.  

Death Cab For Cutie - Codes and Keys

The “I changed my mind about this album” theme continues throughout the list, guys. Fair warning.  So I couldn’t get through this album the first three times I put it on.  I showed up to the DCfC show to see Frightened Rabbit.  Grant said I should listen again and again and again to this album.  He made me promise not to give up on it. That was August. It took a few months for me to come back around. It’s good. Unobstructed Views and Under The Sycamore.

Kelli Schaeffer -Ghost of the Beast

This album is a rare treat.  It’s amazing from start to finish. Kelli has a singular, textured, rich voice.  

to be continued.

Tragedy comes whether you’re dancing or weeping.  You might as well dance.

The nature of the universe

Jung called it synchronicity. I call it God. Some people call it coincidence.  Whatever you call it, there are inexplicable forces at work in the universe.  When you tap into that, possibility just expands exponentially.

Thoughts on music

Ceremonials failed to live up to expectations in so many areas, but Ghost of the Beast by Kelli Schaefer fixes that.  Seriously, it’s everything I wanted from Florence and the Machine but better.  It’s brave and honest, layered and complex, and Kelli’s voice is singular.  I’ve been raving about this record like some crazed evangelist since I first heard it. I’ve listened to it over a dozen times.  It’s that ridiculously awesome.

Also, the Lonely Forest record is dangerously addictive. I listened to it once two days ago and it’s been in my head ever since. So there’s that.

Currently Reading: The Rest is Noise

Found this quote in The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross -“Art is the sacred torch that must shed its merciful light into all life’s terrible depths, into every shameful and sorrowful abyss; art is the divine flame that must set fire to the world, until the world with all its infamy and anguish burns and melts away in redeeming compassion.” - Thomas Mann

This starts to explain why art therapy works.  Art can reach into our souls, pull out the darkest pieces of who we are and redeem them.  For the artist, the struggle is validated by the creation. Any struggle, every struggle.  That’s some profound stuff. 

Also reading -

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell