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lessons from a cormorant
Lessons from a CormorantI’ve been taking lessonsfrom a cormorantat the creek near my house.Driven by her hunger,she dives deep, deep,below the surface.Today I saw her standingfor a long, long time,wings outstretched,and I wondered why she would dothis vulnerable thing.She seemed to be drying her wings,but that seemed absurd to me—a waterfowl whose wingsget waterlogged?I learned…
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2024 in books!
2024 was another year of beautiful, brilliant books! As always, many that I read were library books and/or audiobooks and/or Kindle books, but I rounded up some that I own as physical copies for the book stack pictures in this post. Below are my favorite nonfiction, fiction, and poetry books for the year with brief…
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contemplative book recommendations
Over and over, people I meet with in spiritual direction have said how much they love the readings I share in our sessions. The words of these gifted writers and prophets help us begin with a centering moment as we transition to a more contemplative space. They give me words of blessing to speak over…
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How to Prepare for the End of the World
How to Prepare for the End of the WorldListen.Come close.This is what we must do:Listen to the wind in the leaves,swaying Here and Thereas the trunk remains rooted.Come close enough to identify the spotted orbweaver.Observe her working steadilyat her silent task,which you may only see this time of year.Watch her drop down a barely visible…
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how to sustain work rooted in love
For our work in the world to be grounded, sustainable, & rooted in love, we must continually attend to our inner work. Inner work includes healing from white supremacy, patriarchy, ableism, homophobia, etc (systems of oppression harm oppressed & oppressors in different ways). Examples of inner work:
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using the enneagram in discernment
The Enneagram is a helpful tool that can point to specific red and green flags for discernment. While there is endless diversity among people of the same Enneagram type, sometimes groupings around commonalities are helpful, especially regarding the three centers of intelligence: thinking (logic/objectivity), feeling (feelings and motives of self and others), and doing (purposeful,…
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Dreamless: a gun violence lament
by Lindsay L. O’Connor Dreamless: a gun violence lamentby Lindsay L. O’Connor She’s never been a good sleepermy eight-year-old daughterstill wakes up in the night,afraidlike her sister did for so long.The other dayshe saidI know you said when I have bad dreamsto think of a way to change the endingand make it goodbutI don’t like…
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books for women’s history month
Happy Women’s History Month!🎉 These are some amazing books by/for/about women. We #ReadWomen all year long, but we celebrate extra in March🙌🏻 1. Pushout by Monique W. Morris 2. All About Love by bell hooks 3. Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer 4. Fat Talk by Virginia Sole-Smith 5. The Body is Not an Apology…
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Ash Wednesday Valentine
Some days Some days Some days… I go for a walk Just to listen for the poetry that surrounds me. If I listen closely, I hear the poetry that you’re speaking. I talked to a stranger as we beheld together a perfect cloudless blue sky— even saw two butterflies, though it’s winter. Tell that to…
Lindsay L. O'Connor
Spiritual Director | Enneagram Professional | Writer | Speaker
Lindsay L. O'Connor 