Sing with me?

I've got some things to say.

The first is I'm not going to wait until I've written them "perfectly" to say them.

The second is I've decided to live my life out loud. Not that I'm a particularly noisy person, but I'm consciously working to be done with those 1960s voices that told my young self not to put myself forward in public, and those college professor voices that said only perfect writing is acceptable. I'm leaving them behind.

What's going to change? This blog, The Coming Season, which has been something I love. I hid my identity, mostly to protect my children. I always asked their permission before I posted anything about them, and I used pseudonyms. But they are all more public than I am now, and only one is left at home. So I'm updating my bio info, and using real names -- (big breath) I'm going to be honest, exposed, genuine.

Also, I am going to put labels on all my posts so you can search them more easily. Want to see my bird posts, or find all the posts with audio, or look up the one about singing with our children before bed? I think there's even a recipe in here for an easy pie crust. Be patient, this will take awhile.

Trying to feed the wild birds by hand

When I started writing, I was giving voice to three things that dominated my soul: the coming season nature-wise (spring of course my favorite!), and the coming seasons of growing a family and of living in a world of climate change. I will still write about those things, but now I have more to share. 

Deep inside I've felt the movement of my spirit, jumping up and down saying "you know stuff and it's not because of your brain". This has led me on a winding journey away from church but exploring various religious and spiritual practices and traditions, always looking to learn what is at the core, and I will write about that. I'll write about what I'm doing because of that: I'm teaching Guided Autobiography classes to help people discover the stories of their lives, I've started a business with my friend Hilary called Opening Pathways LLC to help people discover ways into their own inner wisdom, and I've got a manuscript for a children's picture book about what happens to love when a person dies, called The River of Birds, which will become a book -- one way or another!

So there it is. I'm trying to give more to you and expect less

(perfection) of myself. Dear friends -- and dear strangers (those people I've met in wonderful podcasts and books) -- have urged me on: what is there to fear about putting my ideas out there? That you might not like it? Ok, then I'll see you somewhere else. But I'm not going to leave this earth with the song in my heart unsung. Sing with me, maybe?