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After thirty years as an elementary school teacher specializing in special education, I retired to devote myself full-time to my focus on the Sacred. My degrees are in physical geography and education. I am a graduate of the Jubilee training program in Spiritual Deepening and Spiritual Direction, am trained as a supervisor, have completed the Ignatian Exercises Annotation 19, and am a member of Spiritual Directors International.
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"Over the centuries, women have kept the church going by their faithfulness, but have lived their inner lives around its edges."
Margaret Guenther, Holy Listening |
Within the context of spirituality, two areas have come into sharp focus for me: interfaith spirituality and feminist spirituality. It is not surprising that interfaith spirituality draws my attention; my own spiritual path has been a meandering one...
As an elementary school teacher, I enjoyed connecting with students from numerous faith traditions. My membership in Inshallah, a multi-faith and social justice-oriented choir based in Waterloo, Ontario, has expanded my experience and sense of belonging within this context. When I felt rejected by the doctrine and dogma of my own religion, I spent years exploring other traditions, searching for that one true thread connecting all belief systems. In truth, one of my main motivators for responding to the vocation of spiritual direction has been the sense that there are many people today who have been disillusioned or hurt by their traditions, and are bereft without a sense of belonging in a swiftly-changing world. Others are looking for ways to transcend boundaries and focus on what connects us as a global community, rather than on that which divides us. Having persevered through these areas myself with my sense of the Sacred not only alive, but flourishing, has awakened a willingness and a desire to be available to others as they explore these themes. The fact that I am a woman who came of age in the seventies and who has prioritized learning about feminist issues for decades highlights this theme as an imperative area for me to support within the spiritual guidance field. It is important to me to be a compassionate ally as women explore what it means to discover a voice which is both listened to respectfully and encouraged to develop in authority. I feel it is crucial to provide any seeker who has experienced this (or any other) power differential a safe place to explore her own experiences on her own timeline. |
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Hiking through forests, enjoying gardens, appreciating the earth, and taking the time to notice details - these are like air to me! Time spent in nature and practices such as meditation, yoga, and tai chi help us get out of our heads and into our bodies and the present moment. In today's fast-paced life, it seems that we need to be intentional about cultivating a healthy balance between time spent in community and moments devoted to solitary activities and quiet contemplation.
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I am passionate about travel and about the earth! Experiencing other cultures and environments gives me the opportunity to consider life from new perspectives. Perhaps it is my Celtic heritage which makes exploring Scotland, Ireland, and Wales so comforting to me. The respect with which these ancient cultures held the earth makes Celtic spirituality a "soft place to land". Similarly, I am humbled by the honour with which the Indigenous Peoples of the world view the earth and the interconnectedness of all creation. Though the reconciliation efforts of settler governments often stumble, my hope is that we persist through the discomfort as we develop more honest and authentic relationships with our Indigenous sisters and brothers, and open to learning from the wisdom of their traditions.
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Engaging in creativity has the ability to open hearts and transcend boundaries. Music and writing hold an important place in my life - I love to listen to music, as well as to play and sing it, and I dedicate a great deal of time to my love for writing, especially poetry. The arts can be incorporated into guidance sessions for seekers who have an affinity for and comfort with these areas.
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For over four decades, symbolic images have fascinated me. I have studied the language of images through a number of vehicles such as mythology, depth psychology, dreamwork, archaeology, archetypal astrology, and tarot. I am also a Veriditas-trained labyrinth facilitator. The ability of a symbol to contain a universe of meaning can make writing poetry a mystical experience! Many seekers find deep meaning in exploring symbolic language during sessions.
"The imagination knows the language of mystery and the sacred; revelation comes first at this level...The new spirituality of women will appear first in these forms, and that is why the language of the imagination – image, symbol, story, dream, and ritual – is so important for spiritual guidance with women.” (Kathleen Fischer, Women at the Well.) Copyright © 2019 Catharine Mitchell. All rights reserved.
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