Among the many needs of this time, holding spaces—that is, spaces for processing, reflection, somatic awareness, and grounded re-commitment—feel particularly important. With this need in mind, I’m continuing to hold lunchtime processing groups: “Processing the Pandemic with Heart-Head-Hands.” Throughout the spring, these groups felt supportive for me—like I’d learn or remember or release something new with each session. So, this summer, I'm continuing to facilitate ... Read more ...
courage
Unraveling Whiteness: A Call for More Courage
I’m thinking about whiteness—the structure, ideology, and everyday enactments—as I try to process (yet again) how white people weaponize whiteness. My heart is hurting with rage and grief from recent events, explained in these articles from The Root: “‘There’s an African-American Man Threatening My Life’: Karen Calls Police on Black Man for Asking Her to Leash Her Dog” “Outrage in Minneapolis after Black Man Dies in Custody Following Brutal Police Arrest: ‘I Cannot ... Read more ...
Wailing with the Wind: On Disrupting Work During the Pandemic
It’s windy today—the sort of wind that announces springtime. The sort of wind that lulls and gusts. The sort of wind that howls and rattles windows. The sort of wind that whips through rooms, scattering papers. As it has here: The wind has scattered page proofs that I’ve been pushing myself to review, responding to an email that came out of the blue, asking for proofs to be returned in under a week. On the one hand, these proofs represent good news: a chapter written ... Read more ...
Living in a Global Pandemic, Reaching toward Collective Responsibilities
What’s demanded of us for living relationally and responsibly in the midst of a global pandemic? What’s demanded in this time of uncertainty, chaos, and crisis—a time that’s highlighting how precarious everyday life is, especially for people meant not to thrive within oppression? Sitting with these questions, here are three scenes. May weaving together story threads help with realizing—and perhaps reaching toward—collective responsibilities. Scene 1: Processing with ... Read more ...
Words Cast Spells: Spell-Casting for 2020 to Experience Grief, Temperance, and Abundance
Though the new year marks a time for review and renewal, it’s often a few weeks into the year before I’m ready to set new goals via the contemplative practice of spell-casting. It’s as though I have to get out of the turbulent holiday season and new year energy before I’m ready to engage the magic of habit formation. This year (like the past couple) I’m returning to the practice of writing spells (like mantras, poems, or intentions) that I’ve learned through adrienne ... Read more ...
When Speaking Up at the Holidays Means “Complaining” and Being the Killjoy
Last year, during the holidays, I blew up (yelling, cursing, and storming off), and the experience highlighted for me the need to embrace criticisms that I’m “too sensitive,” “too critical,” and “too complaining.” On the day I blew up, I was so overwhelmed, disconnected, and worn down by systemic oppression that my body couldn’t take it. I held myself together until I couldn’t hold it in anymore: then, I released a tidal wave of rage. I’m still processing, but I’m ... Read more ...
From Fear to Love: Working with Emotional Overload
Emotional Overload Is Rooted in Fear Last week I said goodbye to the phone I’d had for more than 3 years, a phone I was attached to more than I’d like to admit. I entered a state of complete overwhelm, spiraling between questions and frustrations, between crying and raging: How could I possibly learn a new phone? Why aren’t there any small phones? How will one of the new—BIG—phones fit in my pocket? It’s not fair that all the phones are large, while women’s pants ... Read more ...
Responding to White Supremacist Terror, This Time in El Paso
I woke this morning in Ireland to news of the El Paso shooting: the latest act of white supremacist terror in the United States. My body was already aching (today’s a rest day after some seriously long walks), but the news ramped up the ache and lodged itself in my chest. I recognized the familiar heartache that comes with shootings and acts of violence, particularly against Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)—in this case, against Latinx folks in Texas. Along ... Read more ...
Toward Public Outcry: Why I’ll Keep Repeating #AbolishICE and #CloseTheCamps
Outcry: a strong expression of public anger and disapproval This week I dreamed about being detained when traveling, taken aside in an airport and made to wait and wait and wait … It became clear that I was being monitored and considered dangerous and essentially arrested. What started in the airport turned into a full detention / internment / concentration camp experience. The dream’s details are sketchy, but I remember feeling powerless. I couldn’t call for help. I ... Read more ...
What Is Career Discernment?
I’ve encountered this question in recent weeks, since announcing the e-course “Career Discernment for Academics: Aligning Career with Commitments.” Over the past 2-3 years, since working through my own career discernment process and writing about it in Inside Higher Ed, I’ve been thinking about why I’m drawn to the word “career discernment” rather than career exploration or advising or coaching or other options. And now I’m being asked time and again: What is ... Read more ...
![How do we build more accountable lives?
.
This is the question for this week’s processing group: an intimate space that supports reflection, somatic awareness, and grounded re-commitment.
.
Learn more via link in bio.
.
.
[This image shares this week’s question—“How do we build more accountable lives?”—along with meeting information: “Processing the Pandemic with Heart-Head-Hands. Wed, Aug. 10th.” Text appears in a central box that looks like a letter partially out of an envelope. The colors are red, orange, and yellow.]
.
.
#processing #holdingspace #communitycare #pandemic #meetingonline #connection #conversation #coaching #heartheadhands #together #gatheringonline #commitments #accountability #everydayliving #striving](https://heart-head-hands.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
