Blog

The Sacred Water of Life: Prayer Walk for Seneca Lake

On September 15, 2015 / Nature, Spirituality / 17 Comments

Women walkers carried the water vessel in a ritual circumambulation of Seneca Lake to bless the water and create a circle of protection for the lake. The vessel moved without stopping, handed from one walker to

Persona: How Promoting a Book Created a New Social Self

Last week, I went to REP Studio in Ithaca to record passages from my book for National Public Radio’s Author’s Corner. I needed two takes of two readings, each 80-83 seconds. Peter Johnson of Author’s Corner gave me

Bees, Butterflies, and Blessings: Cycles of Nature and Grief

On September 1, 2015 / Creativity, My Land and Home / 25 Comments

If you’ve read my blog or visited my Facebook page, you know photography helped with my grieving process. In 2008 when my husband Vic died, I rarely took photos. Vic was the family photographer. The evening after Vic’s memorial service,

My Lover’s Hands

On August 25, 2015 / Bereavement and End of Life, Family and Friends / 21 Comments

We stood with three other couples, anchoring our side of the square. They were much older, at least in their forties. The sun-baked men strutted in shiny cowboy boots and red bandanas. The women twirled layered white

Do You Trust Your Creative Self?

On August 18, 2015 / Creativity, Psychology and Mythology, Writing and Social Media / 19 Comments

I walk along a country road with a woman writer, a seven-year-old girl, and a boy who is three. The children run ahead, down a steep dip in the road, out of sight. A huge truck comes from

Ritual at the Crossroads

On August 11, 2015 / Nature, Spirituality / 21 Comments

“A ritual would help,” I said to my friend Pat. “I’d love that,” she said. “I’ll think about it. I want to be near water.” I’d just arrived at Pat’s home. She and I met in 1970

Traveling Solo But Not Alone: Managing a Meltdown

On August 4, 2015 / Family and Friends, Health / 37 Comments

My plane left San Francisco at 6 a.m. I curled into a window seat with Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver. When I arrived in Newark, I read the departure board. Flight to Ithaca canceled due to air traffic

Disco Balls and Candles: Grief Ritual in Unusual Places

On July 28, 2015 / Bereavement and End of Life, Spirituality / 10 Comments

On Saturday, July 25, my son Anthony Mansfield hosted a Leaning into Love reading at Monarch, a dance club in San Francisco. The reading was set for early evening in a downstairs room under the main bar, a place

In the Company of Friends

On July 21, 2015 / Bereavement and End of Life, Family and Friends / 6 Comments

“Are you OK?” Lauren asked when she called the morning after Vic died. Lauren Cottrell Banner is one of a few friends who attended Vic’s death. She helped me swab his mouth, chant prayers, and read passages

She’s Seven Now: When Dreams Lead the Way

On July 14, 2015 / Creativity, Psychology and Mythology, Writing and Social Media / 20 Comments

On June 3, I planned a quiet day to take stock of my life. It was the seventh anniversary of my husband Vic’s death. I wrote about the ritual aspects of the day in a previous blog,