The Gorge, Victoria, BC Hello friend! It is so nice to be with you again after a couple of weeks off. We had a great time on our vacation - unfortunately a wee virus decided to come home with us, so this week is still dedicated to resting and healing. But I had promised to … Continue reading The Importance of Self-Care

Image by Ralf Designs from Pixabay The Torah describes the Creator spending six days (however we might understand that) in work and creation, and then on the seventh day, the Divine rested and relaxed. The word that is usually translated as relaxed is “va’yinafash” - a word that incorporates the root of the word for … Continue reading Let’s Talk About Rest

Image by 40038 from Pixabay For the last few years, I have been privileged to participate in imagery classes, run by the inimitable Carol Rose, who was a student of Madame Colette Aboulker-Muscat. Imagery is a form of short, imaginative meditations, designed by Colette to evoke images from our subconscious. Carol does an amazing job … Continue reading How Big is Your Compassion?

My new branding! If you’ve followed me for any length of time, you have probably noticed that I have a brand called Energy Queens - in fact, that used to be the name of this website. I developed it about five years ago, and many things have changed for me since then. My amazingly talented … Continue reading From Queens to Sparks

Image by Tumisu, please consider ☕ Thank you! 🤗 from Pixabay This past Shabbat, I finally corrected an omission in my reading - I spent my time with Judith Plaskow’s Standing Again At Sinai. This book came out in 1990, so I really don’t know what has taken me so long. While it is written … Continue reading What is Community?

Image by Pexels from Pixabay This week was Father’s Day in North America and some other countries. It has an interesting history - while Mother’s Day apparently caught on very quickly, people were reluctant to honour fathers in the same way. To quote history.com: Many men, however, continued to disdain the day. As one historian … Continue reading About Fatherhood

Image credit: Image by photosforyou from Pixabay So, it has been quite the few weeks recently around here. I finished my 11 months of kaddish for my Dad, with his first yahrzeit (anniversary of death) coming up next month. My middle kid moved out into their own apartment, graduated university and has started doing job … Continue reading Navigating Change

Mount Sinai. Image by 현섭 김 from Pixabay This week we celebrated the holiday of Shavu’ot, the Feast of Weeks. In Christian tradition it is often called Pentecost, the holiday of the 50th Day. It is the second of the three pilgrimage festivals ordained in the Torah, tied to the first (Passover) by the ritual … Continue reading These and These

Image by 愚木混株 Cdd20 from Pixabay I very nearly titled this piece “Do You Feel Invisible?”, because so many of us tiptoe through life feeling that way - as though we are a ghost or an observer in our own lives. We seem a little surprised when anyone notices that we are there. We are … Continue reading Do You Feel Seen?

Image credit: Pixabay This week was Victoria Day here in Canada. While the first long weekend of summer has become the day’s primary reason for celebration for most people, it’s a good opportunity for me to reflect on the concept of royalty, and queens in particular. Postmodern spirituality can be a struggle between our desire … Continue reading No More Queens?