Tag Archives: Mary Oliver

Smug Mode

Posted on September 16, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

So we got to climb one more mountain after all. And not just any mountain–Black Tusk. Bagging this peak is not just a walk in the (Garibaldi) Park. You have to backpack 9.5 kilometres and up 900 metres to a … Continue reading →

Posted in Creation, Ignatian Spirituality, Reflections, Stories | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Home Again

Posted on June 17, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

I love our camping adventures–being outsideexploring by bikehiking trails to a viewsipping wine from a jarwatching flames turn to coalsmusing about what we forgotand how we made docozy and warm in our tentgrateful for tarps and when the rain comes … Continue reading →

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I Am Fed

Posted on March 4, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

For me, church is often one long exercise of trying to stay present. Multiple times, my mind drifts off like a balloon rising far above the hymns, prayers, and readings. I find it again caught in a zephyr of thoughts … Continue reading →

Posted in compassion, Poetry, Reflections, Stories | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

My Wild and Precious Life

Posted on February 4, 2022 by Esther Hizsa

Greg McKeown’s book Essentialism gave me the courage to schedule more time for writing. My third book won’t get published if I keep trying to fit it in around everything else. “Everything else” includes my non-negotiables–spending time with family and … Continue reading →

Posted in Mindfulness, Reflections, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Into the Light

Posted on November 1, 2019 by Esther Hizsa

Life has slowed down. My books have arrived; my calendar isn’t jammed. I can linger over meals and leave my phone in my pocket when I walk to the store. I shed an old skin in the rough darkness. After … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Reflections, Seed Cracked Open, Stories, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Narrow Space Given

Posted on October 25, 2019 by Esther Hizsa

This fall life has been packed tightly, jobs tucked into every spare moment. I write emails on the fly, make phone calls while I walk. I have to keep moving. It isn’t just that I have more commitments than usual. … Continue reading →

Posted in Poetry, Reflections, Wednesday Lunch Club, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Right Where I Am

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Esther Hizsa

I looked at this drawing of an injured bird and felt tender inside. I lingered for a while with that feeling and the sense of being held. Then, in the retreat’s spacious silence, I reflected on a poem by Mary … Continue reading →

Posted in Helpful Images, Poetry, Praying with the Imagination, Reflections, Spiritual Direction, Stories | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment