Wendell Berry once wrote, “There are no unsacred places; there are only sacred places and desecrated places.” I couldn’t help mulling these words as we...

I am a fairly risk-adverse person. I tend more often to stick with what I know and with whom and where I am comfortable. When...

As a parent, some days seem impossible. My children whine and bicker with one another and with me, refusing generosity and kind words for that...

Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. ― Mary Oliver, Something I’ve been thinking about this poem lately, a timely reminder for...

Honestly, I haven’t always loved the morning. My body and mind seem to move in half-time, fumbling for order with garbled words and hair and...

Happy New Year and welcome to Cloistered Away‘s new space–the best way to begin 2014! First, thank you to Corina and Theodore for their impeccable...

In 2013, I slept in a tepee; climbed trees; listened to a million jokes rehearsed from joke books; dangled my feet from the Grand Canyon;...

list-making / unmade beds / holiday baking / endless amounts of pretend play / poetry and hot cocoa / new braids / gift wrapping /...

My life doesn’t naturally provide space for stillness, physically, mentally, or spiritually. It’s strange to think of stillness as a discipline, but as a young...

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. {ecclesiastes 3} My sister reminded me of these words the...