By Ann Stillwater September 30, 2026 “I’m not broken. I’m different and that’s okay.”—Ellen Hedger“Hablo mejor que entiendo.” Years ago I memorized this phrase to explain my Spanish-speaking abilities: “I speak better than I understand.” My aunt was trilingual and I have her gift for learning prope
By JeKaren Bell September 23, 2026 “When great souls die, the air around us becomes light, rare, sterile. We breathe, briefly. Our eyes, briefly, see witha hurtful clarity.” –Maya Angelou, in “When Great Trees Fall”I became a death doula to companion people in their grief. That was the calling I tr
By Christine Slocum September 16, 2026 “We live by each other and for each other. Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.”—Helen KellerMoving slower lets you observe what’s around you. I’m a bicycle commuter for many reasons, but the ability to better notice the world—and its birds—i
By Carleigh Heckel September 9, 2026 “Of course I wake up finallythinking, how wonderful to be who I am,made out of earth and water, my own thoughts, my own fingerprints—all that glorious, temporary stuff.” —Mary Oliver, “On Meditating, Sort Of” Tending to my houseplants has become a spirit
By Kim Mason June 24, 2026 “When it’s time to go onstage, know that you’re not ready butthis is not about being ready, it’s not even about being fierce, or fearless, it’s about being free.”—Dean Atta, The Black FlamingoThree religious professionals walk into a bar: a queer UU minister, a female pri
By Cat Rambo June 17, 2026 “My use of their is socially motivated…: a deliberate response to the socially and politically significant banning of our genderless pronoun by language legislators enforcing the motion that the male sex is the only one that counts. I consistently break a rule I consider
By Anonymous June 10, 2026 “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” —e. e. cummingsI didn’t know that my child had been struggling to tell me their truth about their gender and sexual orientation—a truth I’d always thought I would understand how to respond to.They tried to tell
By Pat Uribe-Lichty June 3, 2026 “Protesting is an act of love. It is born of a deeply held conviction that the world can be a better, kinder place. Saying ‘no’ to injustice is the ultimate declaration of hope.”—Amy Goodman, investigative journalist, columnist, and authorIn the spring of 1975, I sa
May 27, 2026 “Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen.” —Brené BrownIn my world, courage takes a different form: I spend my days walking the halls of a Veteran’s Hospital and trying to start conversations. That probably sounds pretty easy to most, except I spend my days walkin
By Anonymous May 20, 2026 “Return to the holy intimacy of being alive.”—John RoedelAt the end of a church meeting, a handful of people lingered in our conference room when someone relatively new to our congregation took a deep breath and a big risk—because he didn’t know many of the people present.
