Rituals and Sabbaths for Large Family Life

We all have family rituals, whether we realise that is what they are or not. In a larger family these rituals start to take on a life of their own, becoming a sort of adhesive that binds the family together. They might take a little bit of effort to set up, but if the fit is right, I reckon they become the things kids grow up and remember as part of themselves, helping them feel they belong. They communicate a sense of collective belonging that is one of the key ingredients to intrinsic wellbeing.

April 13, 2020 2

Making my own life-work manifesto

Lately I have been feeling very disillusioned with the academic life. I mean, I've always intellectually known that our reach is often short, our work ignored and overlooked, and our lifestyles completely overrun by our work. But recently, I have been feeling it more, and feeling more dissatisfied about it. Then a few things happened... Continue Reading →

May 31, 2019 0

Three Words 2018: Less, Dwell, Write

In the last few years I have been choosing some focus words for each year, rather than a New Year's Resolution. In 2018, after reflecting on the words and things I learned in 2017, I decided on the word 'less', 'dwell' and 'write'. Of all the years I've been doing this, it feels like this... Continue Reading →

January 8, 2019 2

Surviving Well Together

KELLY DOMBROSKI and STEPHEN HEALY describe a community economies approach to poverty which seeks to acknowledge what people are already doing in their communities to sustain themselves and then to act in solidarity with them. REPUBLISHED from Tui Motu Interislands Magazine. Many thanks to editor Ann Gilroy. How can we work to transform our economies... Continue Reading →

March 15, 2018 0

Three Words 2017: Prepare, Deeper, Joy

Prepare, deeper, joy. For 2017, these were my touchstone words, reminding me of the things I was to ponder and experiment with this year. Choosing a word for the year is something a little bit more open to the unknown, a little less goal-driven and anxiety producing than deciding how much weight to lose or... Continue Reading →

December 27, 2017 1

Why diversity matters in Christianity

If you have been around Christian churches long enough, you will know there is often both subtle and not-so-subtle pressures to conform to a certain understanding of Christianity — whatever that might be in your tradition. There is no small amount of anxiety that one might not be a ‘proper’ Christian, believing the ‘right’ things... Continue Reading →

September 19, 2017 2

Be gone, cruel voices

I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in this. I’m thinking of when you have something important to do, to say, but become paralysed by your uncertainty about your ability — or your right — to do it, to even begin! What if what I have to say is not actually so important, if it is, in fact,... Continue Reading →

August 29, 2017 5

I know, I’ll wait, I’m here

This is re-post of a piece co-authored with Stephen Healy for The Daily Marinade , first published July 15th 2017. In a post circulating on facebook from 2016, a woman describes her struggle with giving up alcohol in a society that seems to require women to drink to just get through life. Giving up drinking... Continue Reading →

July 19, 2017 2

Thinking-with, Dissenting-within

I am about three chapters in to Maria Puig de la Bellacasa's book Matters of Care: Speculative Ethics in More Than Human Worlds. In the same way that Richard Rohr seems to express my thoughts before I even am conscious of having them in the area of spiritual practice and belief, Puig de la Bellacasa seems to... Continue Reading →

April 29, 2017 2

Vulnerability and Learning to be Affected

I've been struggling with an article for a long time. This piece of writing has evolved through 5 or 6 complete revisions and framings (and many, many more versions), including being part of a thesis chapter and part of a book chapter. I've taken it to two retreats, I've had reviewer feedback, peer feedback, and... Continue Reading →

April 20, 2017 4

The Waiting Day

Another re-blog from The Daily Marinade, a daily devotional I contribute to regularly. This is the time of waiting, the time of not-knowing, the time of awkward looks and sniffles, and 'maybe we got it all wrong'. Jesus - the Messiah - dead and in a tomb. The scriptures don't say much about what happened... Continue Reading →

April 15, 2017 0

Lent as a practice of social change

Reblogged from The Daily Marinade, a daily devotional by a collective of wonderful, thoughtful, spiritual people. Growing up in the Catholic tradition normally meant I at least knew when Lent was, even if I didn't always observe it any particular way. I do remember we got to order fish and chips on Fridays at school,... Continue Reading →

March 16, 2017 0

Completion: On getting stuff done

Every year, I choose three words and write them on a post-it note above my desk. They help me guide my decision-making for the year in a more intentional way. In 2016 one of my words was Complete. I actually chose that word based on my desire to finish a whole lot of work related... Continue Reading →

January 17, 2017 3

Connect: On Making Grown-Up Friends.

Every year I choose three words, put them on a post note above my desk, and use them to help me prioritise my day-to-day decision-making. In 2016, one of those words was Connect. We've had to move a lot in the last ten years, and we've lived in 3 different countries, 5 cities, in 8... Continue Reading →

January 10, 2017 2

How to do slow reading

My previous post 'slow scholarship starts with slow reading' prompted some questions around slow reading. What do I really mean by slow reading, and how do we do it? It is, I acknowledge, much more than not being distracted. Although I blog, am an avid user of evernote, use Goodreads, and keep all my references... Continue Reading →

December 28, 2016 7

Quiet: A book review

Recently I was recommended Susan Cain's book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. My first reaction to the recommendation was 'but I'm not an introvert!' But I got the book out and read it anyway, since my entire immediate household is introverted and I thought it probably couldn't hurt. ... Continue Reading →

November 16, 2016 2

The Beautiful People Collection

Many of you will know I am an avid amateur people reader - that is, I often try to work out people's temperaments and sometimes even full blown personality profiles out of interest. What you may not know is that before I discovered systematic personality profiling, I used to keep an imaginary collection of 'beautiful... Continue Reading →

October 23, 2016 12

Yes, we know. Christians repurpose pagan festivals.

Well, you know it is a major Christian festival when the academic and social media sites I frequent put out yet another 'expose' of Christianity. I yawned at another article this morning exposing the fact that easter eggs are actually not Christian symbols! Are there any Christians out there that actually do not know this?... Continue Reading →

April 6, 2015 4

Gender, Personality, and Social change

I have recently been reading David Keirsey's book Please Understand Me II, having read Please Understand Me in the first edition many years ago. He uses the Myer-Briggs personality categories to describe four basic temperaments and 16 role variants. His main point is that much of our differences in communication and the way we interact... Continue Reading →

January 27, 2015 1

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