Clare Consultation, LLCStanding in Wildfire
Yesterday, my husband Gary and I began a drive to Montana. We live there parts of the year. Just outside a really small community tucked into muscular folds of the Intermountain West. With water and trees, with big mammals like Elk, Moose and Bear – with Eagles and Hawks, and this past spring, with a mama hummingbird nested just outside our window. It was early when we left Portland – the place… Read More
3084 Miles of Road
“We’ve just driven the entire length of Interstate 84,” Sara said, “and we’re only in Utah.” She was in the driver’s seat at that moment, and we were 500+ miles east of Portland, Oregon – the hometown we’d left at sunrise, encased in a rectangular cube of mostly yellow – a rental truck filled up with Sara’s 28-year lifetime of belongings. For a mom and daughter, this is one of those big… Read More
Privilege Highway
Recently I had the chance to visit with a long time friend, colleague and leader in the African American community. We found ourselves speaking of the urgently needed, but still largely inactive national dialogue on America’s race history and relations. He told me this story: “My friend was working with a group of teens at a local high school. There were black, brown and white students in the group. My friend had… Read More
Speaking Earth Day
Yesterday, Gary and I spent the day with a small group of people investigating grief. It was a rich, intelligent, and healing time. We call the workshop The Nature of Grief. And, in it, we weave together Gary’s storytelling and literary acumen with my knowledge of psychology and education applied to emotional, mental and spiritual health. It’s good work. We can tell by the responses of the people who join us –… Read More
Cycles – Variation on an Easter Blog
Last week I had the great opportunity to be in Yellowstone – the first National Park in the world. Yellowstone stands out for loads of reasons – but recently I’ve learned another feature of its distinction. The park makes up over 20% of the largest generally intact ecosystem in our planet’s temperate zone. All of these are fun facts. But the realities that support them have gained particular significance to me from working alongside… Read More
The Snipers Within
I haven’t seen American Sniper, but I know it’s in a theater-near-me. It won’t be surprising that I’m not really a fan of war movies. I’m also not a fan of war. But, at bottom, I imagine there are very few who prefer annihilation over peace. From the media buzz related to the Academy Award nominee, I understand that the film stands on the premise that, with armed conflict underway, there is… Read More
Evening – 2014
Meanwhile, deep beneath this winter ground a reliable impulse moves the seasons. And at the center of these long nights and fleeting days eternal wisdom radiates in the celebrations of people. Celebrations of dignity surviving enslavement, celebrations of just enough lamp oil, and celebrations of a baby born to an everyday woman — mother and child enduring beacons of faith and essential good will. Amidst these miracles of change and constancy the… Read More
Brain Development in Times of Torture
What we need here isn’t balls. What we need is a big collection of myelinating orbitofrontal cortices. And we need it ASAP. Considering the many Elders I know, the many more of whom I’m aware, and the millions I have every reason to trust are out there, it’s my considered guess that we have all the developed brains we need to be far more wise than we are being. Unfortunately, those… Read More
Truth & Reconciliation – No Better Time than Right Now
Last night, I saw a video of renown science fiction author, Ursula Leguin, speaking at the National Book Awards in acknowledgement of receiving that august group’s recognition of her life of literary achievement. In her comments, she said, “I think hard times are coming. We will need writers who can remember freedom. Poets, visionaries, the realists of a larger reality.” Right after hearing LeGuin’s words, we heard the news from Ferguson, Missouri that… Read More
Gratitude in Four Days
My dear friend, Valerie is a rock star. This designation, star, is certainly figurative, but it’s also for real – like, it’s her job. That’s not all. Valerie’s a mom, and a wife, she’s a sister and a dancer and a teacher – and she is one of Dr. Day’s two daughters. Valerie, her father, her sister and brother have been engaged for months now with the precious progression of Dr. Day’s transition… Read More