They said you were wrong. They don’t remember doing the thing that hurt you. They wrote the thing, signed the letter, spoke the harmful words. You are smashed, ripped open, raw. I promise, precious one, you are going to be OK. It’s going to be good, again. No winning, no losing. But a good fierce OK. Continue reading “A Good Fierce OK”
Author Archives: Kari Kopnick
So We May Begin
Originally published on Chalice Spark, 10/13/16 One page, One day. Move on. Today is cooler and my chair is a little wet from the dew. The prayer flags flow gently back and forth. I sit alone, here, but my ancestors are before me. My sister women around me. My animal friends padding around, sniffing andContinue reading “So We May Begin”
The To-Do List
This morning in my effort to avoid being productive, I circled through my touchstones of life guides on social media. Ann Lamott, Elizabeth Gilbert, I can’t do the Love Warrior anymore but I have found a fresh voice in Elissa Altman. This morning she wrote something just to me and closed with “you are worthyContinue reading “The To-Do List”
“Yep, thanks, we’re together.”
“Um, will this be together?” This happens to us all the time. Every week. Sometimes more than once a day. Even living just outside of both LA and Seattle hasn’t prevented the head tilt, quick evaluation by baristas, bartenders, servers and doctors. At the coffee shop, grocery store, bar, doctor’s office; people are always askingContinue reading ““Yep, thanks, we’re together.””
A Few True Things: Depression
I know. Another voice reacting to the ringing bell of depression and death by suicide. Who needs it? I don’t know. Maybe someone. Maybe you. Maybe me? I live with depression. I know you might, or maybe you know someone who does. It’s a real thing. I am not always depressed, but I always knowContinue reading “A Few True Things: Depression”
Spoons in the Oven
There are things that we always-always do because they are traditions. One year we found some holly on a hike and brought it home to add to the Christmas decorations and decided that was a good thing to do the next year and then why not the year after that, too. A tradition is born.Continue reading “Spoons in the Oven”
Face time in the time of Facetime
To me family is everything. I hear that Gen Xers, as a group, tend to feel this way. Somehow the 60s and 70s were not focused on family and so between our tinfoil covered TV dinners and the reruns of “Love, American Style” apparently society forgot about the kids. I don’t know if that isContinue reading “Face time in the time of Facetime”
Sister Denise Ellen
Long ago in a different time, I served on a board. Part of my charge was to plan a professional education day for a bunch of religious educators but for some reason the budget had been completely cut in the cycle before I came on the board. So, plan a big educational day for 100Continue reading “Sister Denise Ellen”
The Architecture of an Apology
I screwed up. Blew it. Goofed. I made a mistake. This time it wasn’t a life altering, horrible thing. It was a couple of missed things on a dealie and caused someone else to have to work some hours to fix it. Not great, right? But not a heavy thing that cost someone money orContinue reading “The Architecture of an Apology”
When my mom was a child she was____.
When my oldest son was in 2nd grade he brought home a fill in the blank worksheet he had done in class. One of the questions said “When my mom was a child she was _________.” He had filled in the blank with “lonely.” I had probably told him stories about wishing for him toContinue reading “When my mom was a child she was____.”
