AB Gracey

Before 12 months old... I wasn't the type anyone expected to join a monastery. Wearing converse sneakers and a ball cap way before it was customary for girls, I was born an easy-going child. Mom says I climbed out of my crib before I could walk. Yes, I was a climber, scaling furniture, cupboards, and when old enough, trees and once the barn roof. Climbing felt like freedom to me, mounting heights, swinging from limb to limb, beckoning me to reach higher. I didn't know fear then, only the rush of adrenaline driving me upward. I looked up to what was possible. And somehow, I believed all things were possible. My soul was made of music long before I knew the word soul or music. It had power over me, the ability to lift my spirit up and away, beyond reality into the world of thoughts and feelings. It affected me like no person or thing had ever done. I became entranced by music from the youngest age, toddling my way to the piano keys trying to repeat tunes I'd heard, drawing Mo...

 So, I just went to the Fridge to get an apple, and ended up making this. Such is life!

Don't tell people to just be happy. Instead, tell them you will sit beside them so they won't be alone in their sadness. It affirms their right to feel-and is more comforting.

It seems sometimes as though we live in an unreal world, where reality is not prized, where the white elephant in the room is so tolerated it would seem life is a delusion. I wonder at times why we find truth so hard to accept. Are we so unsure of ourselves that anything remotely critical threatens us? Is appearances so important that we don't authenticity? Are we so accustomed to pretense that we don't even see it anymore? I get it. I felt so criticized during my time as a monastic that when I left, any criticism I received opened deep wounds. I am still sensitive, though I have grown a lot in that area. For me, it's a matter of stepping back to see the bigger picture and not taking criticism personally. I also find that those who fear to know the truth about themselves often have poor self-esteem. I notice clients with poor self-esteem don't do well with suggestions of checking their impressions or judgements about what others are saying or doing. It is as though aski...

 Here is one article written by Syracuse Herald-Journal for November 14, 1970