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# Colette Lafia

Author & Spiritual Director in San Francisco | a spiritual companion for the journey

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://colettelafia.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Blog](https://colettelafia.com/blog/) - 10 Tips for Comfort & Joy this Holiday Season By colettel on December 13, 2014 in Uncategorized 10 Tips for Finding Comfort & Joy during the Holiday Season Bring the gift of comfort to others by taking time to listen. Today when you ask someone, “How are you?” take the time to really listen. Listening
- [Flip Your Perspective](https://colettelafia.com/flip-your-perspective/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Flip Your Perspective. It's always interesting to notice what is intersecting in our lives--what conversations, what books, what occurrences. Our lives are our spiritual lives, and it is through them that God speaks to us. During the month of July, I've been pondering the question of what is success. I know, like many
- [Love Note #5: Love & Gratitude](https://colettelafia.com/love-note-5-love-gratitude/) - A Love Note on gratitude as love in action—especially in hard moments. Reflect on noticing everyday gifts, easing discouragement, and journaling a “thank you” list.
- [Love Note #4: Love & Participation](https://colettelafia.com/love-note-4-love-participation/) - Love isn’t something we watch from the sidelines—it asks for participation. This Love Note explores trust, surrender, and living in relationship to Divine Love, with journaling prompts.
- [Love Note #3: See Yourself as Beloved](https://colettelafia.com/love-note-3-see-yourself-as-beloved/) - A Love Note inviting you to claim your sacred identity as beloved—through simple affirmations in daily moments and journaling prompts for self-compassion and healing relationships.
- [Love Note #2: Love & Surrender](https://colettelafia.com/love-note-2-love-surrender/) - An excerpt from Seeking Surrender on saying “yes” to love in daily life—releasing fear, embracing trust, and welcoming Divine Love—with journaling prompts.
- [Love Note #1](https://colettelafia.com/love-note-1/) - A short Love Note on comfort and love—found in nature, intimacy, and compassion—with a gentle journaling prompt to reflect on love in your life.
- [Self-Control](https://colettelafia.com/self-control/) - Self-Control: Self-control as a fruit of the Spirit is not the domination of our will over our emotions. Rather, it is our growing awareness of God’s abiding presence and steadfast love. The inward assurance of the Divine’s unwavering love enhances our freedom of choice and action. We know in spite of our weaknesses that God
- [Patience](https://colettelafia.com/patience-5/) - Patience: Through patience we learn to wait with confidence through the ups and downs of our lives, trusting in God’s enduring love present in all we experience. --from Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit, Thomas Keating Also, here are some ideas from contemplative teacher and writer, James Finley, on the subject of patience: Patience
- [Goodness](https://colettelafia.com/goodness/) - Goodness: Goodness is the affirmation of creation as good, together with a sense of oneness with the universe and with everything created. It is the disposition that perceives God's love in everything. It recognizes the beauty of all creation in spite of the damage that human selfishness has imposed upon it. As a result gratitude
- [Gentleness](https://colettelafia.com/gentleness/) - Gentleness: Gentleness is participation in God’s way of doing things that is at once gentle and firm, sustaining all creation with enormous diversity, yet without effort. We labor in the service of God more than ever, and yet have the sense of stepping back and letting go. Like God we labor and are at rest
- [Faithfulness](https://colettelafia.com/faithfulness-2/) - Faithfulness: Faithfulness is a daily commitment to live the path of love, and a trust that the Indwelling Spirit is helping us fulfill this call. It is the daily offering of ourselves and all our actions to God out of compassion for others, especially in service of their concrete needs. Faithfulness (fidelity) serves God without
- [Kindness](https://colettelafia.com/kindness/) - Kindness: Kindness (meekness) is freedom from the energy of hostility, hatred, outbursts of anger. Anger is necessary for human health and growth. But it needs to be transmuted into a growing capacity to persevere in the pursuit of the difficult good. The growth of kindness opens us to the continual awareness of God's presence of
- [Peace](https://colettelafia.com/peace/) - Peace: Peace offers us a pervasive sense of contentment that comes from being rooted in the Holy. It is a state that endures beyond the ups and downs of life, beyond the emotions of joy and sorrow. At the deepest level one knows that all is well. ― from Thomas Keating, Fruits and Gifts of
- [Love](https://colettelafia.com/love-7/) - Love: Agape, Charity. This is a self-giving love. Through the Fruit of love, we are being invited to participate in God’s unconditional love. We learn to live from Jesus's commandment, "to love another as I have loved you." This kind of loving is much more demanding. We accept people just as they are because Chris
- [Joy](https://colettelafia.com/joy-3/) - Joy is an abiding sense of well-being based on the experience of a conscious relationship with the Divine. Flowing from Joy comes freedom to accept and be in the present moment. Let us remember what the 14th century mystic, Julian of Norwich proclaimed, "The fullness of joy is to find God in everything." Joy is
- [Altar 12](https://colettelafia.com/altar-12/) - Cleaned my altar this morning. Added more flowers. And three stones for faith, hope and love. Deep prayers for my sister Monique and her family who lost everything on the palisades fire.
- [Altar 11](https://colettelafia.com/altar-11/) - A candle and rose for my dear friend Gladys who passed away recently. Gratitude for the gift of her life and all we shared together. Lavender drops in the small bowl.
- [Altar 10](https://colettelafia.com/altar-10/) - Placed a bowl in the center of my altar today with the prayers I am holding for others. Lord have mercy. Continuing to fill my jar with letting go stones. An incense, fragrant and burning.
- [Altar 9](https://colettelafia.com/altar-9/) - Starting my week with gratitude. The angel holding a heart belonged to my mother. Feeling her love. Lavender in the water. Letting the prayers on my altar be touched by this soothing scent. The mandala in the back is I am, connected to the great I Am in everything.
- [Altar 8](https://colettelafia.com/altar-8/) - Added the names of the people coming to my retreat this week. Praying for all our joy and fulfillment. The larger rock reminds me that God is my rock, my foundation, and to have hope. Continue to pray for my sister Monique who lost everything in the LA fires. Lord have mercy.
- [Altar 7](https://colettelafia.com/altar-7/) - Continuing to tend my altar. Adding lavender oil for inner calm, strawberries to encourage sweetness, and water with salt to hold my tears. Divine Heart, I lift up my needs and the needs of all those calling out.
- [Altar 6](https://colettelafia.com/altar-6/) - Today I cleaned my altar. Dusting the wooden surface and statues. Adding fragrant roses, prayer cards, and gratitude prayers. Stones in my jar representing the practice of letting go. And a little book made for me by a fourth grader. How’s your altar changing as you interact with it?
- [Altar 5](https://colettelafia.com/altar-5/) - I’ve started putting small stones into my glass jar. Adding a stone every time I notice myself judging myself or when I am overly striving and not letting go. Making sure to keep water in my small heart shaped bowl. How’s your altar making going?
- [Altar 4](https://colettelafia.com/altar-4/) - Today I light an incense. Let prayers be the fragrance and smoke rising Added a rock for grounding.
- [Altar 3](https://colettelafia.com/altar-3/) - Tending my altar reminds me that prayer can be both an inner posture of the heart and a physical act of devotion. Added an orange. Feels like a healing symbol. And added a prayer card for my sister Monique who lost her home in the LA fires.
- [Altar 2](https://colettelafia.com/altar-2/) - I’ve created a simple home altar that sits on top of a short bookcase in my bedroom. Interacting with the altar is surprisingly moving and meaningful. Added a jar. To empty out all the self criticism I’m holding. And nourishing myself with water.
- [Altar 1](https://colettelafia.com/altar-1/) - One practice I have been drawn to lately is altar making and during the Lenten season I want to allow it to become a more consistent prayer practice. Please join me! Noticing a lot of Mary’s presence.
- [Grounded in Gratitude](https://colettelafia.com/grounded-in-gratitude/) - Dear Friends, Welcome to “Grounded in Gratitude,” a five-part email series for restoring balance and renewing trust. I was inspired to create this series after re-reading Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer, by Brother David Stendl-Rast. This book reminded me that grateful living is a choice we can make every day. Brother David teaches that grateful
- [Grounded in Gratitude Day 2](https://colettelafia.com/grounded-in-gratitude-day-2/) - Welcome to Day #2 of “Grounded in Gratitude” a five-part email series for restoring balance and renewing trust. Reflection In Living in Gratitude, educator and anthropologist, Angeles Arrien introduces us to the notion of grateful seeing. She writes, “Grateful seeing is the ability to look first for what is good and working in our lives
- [Making More Room for Mystery](https://colettelafia.com/making-more-room-for-mystery/) - In the last few weeks, I’ve been engaged in a deep forgiveness journey with my father, who has been deceased for almost a decade now. Even though, while he was alive, we shared in many moments of forgiveness, there are still some deep-rooted pains and disappointments that I feel called to meet, forgive, and let
- [Guided Meditation](https://colettelafia.com/guided-meditation/) - A relaxation practice to help us connect with Divine Love. Colette Lafia · Guided Relaxation
- [A Grateful Day with Brother David Steindl-Rast - Gratefulness.org](https://colettelafia.com/a-grateful-day-with-brother-david-steindl-rast-gratefulness-org/) - Ten years ago, Br. David recorded A Good Day, which has been watched well over 1 million times. We invite you to join us in celebrating this timeless message, now updated with beautiful, high-resolution video footage, making it suitable for sharing on large and small screens alike. A Grateful Day: https://gratefulness.org/grateful-day/ More about David Steindl-Rast:
- [Sharing my good news!](https://colettelafia.com/sharing-my-good-news/) - As we reach the end of May with summer around the corner and celebrations and graduations in the air, I'm finding myself celebrating, too! I’ve had a couple of things that have brought me joy this month, which I'm feeling grateful about. 1. The Divine Heart receives a 2022 Silver Nautilus Award! I'm so delighted and
- [In a stance of self-acceptance](https://colettelafia.com/in-a-stance-of-self-acceptance/) - In a stance of self-acceptance, pray with the question: How can I let myself fall, finally, freely into Love’s arms? Notice what you are being invited to let go.
- [At the end of your day](https://colettelafia.com/at-the-end-of-your-day/) - At the end of your day, ask yourself, “How did I let God love me today?" (Use whatever language for God opens your heart--the Divine, Spirit, Mystery, Radiance, etc)
- [Using the gift of imagination](https://colettelafia.com/using-the-gift-of-imagination/) - Using the gift of imagination, pause for a few moments and feel yourself as a plant absorbing the waters of trust. Sense how deep this trust goes, penetrating the soil of your being.
- [Engage in “Savoring Prayer.”](https://colettelafia.com/engage-in-savoring-prayer/) - Engage in “Savoring Prayer.” Rest your hands on your lap, and for a few minutes simply savor the energy of delight within. Slow down and be fully present for a few breath cycles. Breathing in, I am God’s delight. Breathing out, I savor this moment.
- [Enter the space of enough](https://colettelafia.com/enter-the-space-of-enough/) - Enter the space of enough, and find God waiting there, happy to see you. Practice the mantra, “I am enough. I’ve always been enough.”
- [Practice “Seeing Prayer.”](https://colettelafia.com/practice-seeing-prayer/) - Practice “Seeing Prayer.” Simply look more deeply at things. Notice the colors, textures, and shapes of the strawberries at the breakfast table, the roses in the garden, the faces of those around you. Bring depth and delight to your seeing today.
- [Take a <i>listening</i> walk.](https://colettelafia.com/take-a-listening-walk/) - Take a listening walk. Really listen to the sounds that come in and out of awareness— a bird’s song, the whoosh of the wind, your shoes making contact with the pavement. Become receptive to the sounds around you, even ones you usually think of as unpleasant. Can you hear the stirring of the Divine? Practices
- [Place your hand over your heart](https://colettelafia.com/place-your-hand-over-your-heart/) - Gently place your hand over your heart, Repeat the mantra: I’m at home in the Divine. As you sink more deeply into yourself, Add the mantra: The Divine is at home in me. Close your eyes and take it all in.
- [Monk in the World Guest Post: Colette Lafia](https://colettelafia.com/monk-in-the-world-guest-post-colette-lafia/) - I am delighted to share another beautiful submission to our Monk in the World guest post series from the community. Read on for Colette Lafia’s reflection “Love is Our Anchor.” This past Spring, when wildflowers and poppies were blooming everywhere in Northern California, I felt my heart sing every time I saw a display of
- [Heart Meditation to Bring Ease](https://colettelafia.com/heart-meditation-to-bring-ease/) - Follow this guided meditation to connect with the love flowing into you and through you. Colette Lafia, Author · Heart Meditation By Colette Lafia
- [The Way of Gratitude](https://colettelafia.com/the-way-of-gratitude/) - Gratitude: Resting and Enjoying the Relationships of Love in Your Life Welcome to the seventh and last installment of my summer blog series, LoveFoward, exploring the seven ways to live in Divine Love that I describe in my new book, The Divine Heart. In this series we’ve traveled together through seven ways—Receptivity, Delight, Expansiveness, Acceptance, Vulnerability, and now Gratitude—to
- [The Way of Mystery](https://colettelafia.com/the-way-of-mystery/) - Mystery: Dwelling in the Mystery of Love Welcome to the sixth installment in my new blog series, LoveFoward, exploring the seven ways of living Divine Love that I describe in my new book, The Divine Heart. This week we touch on, "The Way of Mystery." In the depths of our heart, love’s mystery unfolds, always
- [The Way of Vulnerability](https://colettelafia.com/the-way-of-vulnerability/) - Welcome to the fifth installment of my LoveFoward blog series, in which I explore the seven ways of living in Divine Love that I describe in my book, The Divine Heart. They are: Receptivity, Delight, Expansiveness, Vulnerability, Acceptance, Mystery and Gratitude. This week, we step into "The Way of Vulnerability." Vulnerability: Becoming Open-Hearted I'd like to share the quote I
- [LoveForward: The Way of Acceptance](https://colettelafia.com/loveforward-the-way-of-acceptance/) - Acceptance: Embracing Life and Who We Are Welcome to the fourth installment of my LoveFoward blog series, in which I explore the seven ways of living in Divine Love that I describe in my new book, The Divine Heart. This week the invitation is: Acceptance. My relationship to acceptance—self-acceptance, accepting others, allowing myself to truly
- [The Heart of a Spiritual Mother](https://colettelafia.com/the-heart-of-a-spiritual-mother/) - From The Divine Heart, chapter on "Vulnerability" In the courtyard of St. Mary’s Elementary School, in Miami, Florida, I looked up at Mary, the Holy Mother, eight feet tall, made of alabaster. The smooth white statue watched over all of us and became my friend. Running up to her every morning for six years, I
- [LoveForward, Expanding Our Capacity to Love](https://colettelafia.com/loveforward-expanding-our-capacity-to-love/) - As we continue on this journey together of LoveForward, exploring the seven ways of living in Divine love that I describe in my new book, I welcome you to the third installment on "The Way of Expansiveness." I'd like to share an excerpt on Expansiveness from The Divine Heart: When we commit to opening our heart and expanding its
- [Introducing LoveFoward, My New Blog Series](https://colettelafia.com/receptivity-2/) - Dear Friends, I’m excited to share my new blog series with you, LoveForward, exploring the seven qualities of living in Divine love that I describe in my new book, The Divine Heart. So, for the next seven weeks, I’ll be sending you a weekly installment that I trust will nourish your heart. I’ll also be
- [LoveFoward, The Practice of Receptivity](https://colettelafia.com/lovefoward-the-practice-of-receptivity/) - LoveForward: The Way of Receptivity As we explore Receptivity this week, I invite you to reflect in your JOURNAL: In what ways are you allowing yourself to be a vessel of love—receiving and giving love to yourself and others? In what ways are you practicing deep listening—to yourself, to others, to Mother Earth? In what ways
- [Visio Divina Practice For Receptivity](https://colettelafia.com/visio-divina-practice-for-receptivity/) - Engage in the contemplative practice of Visio Divina (sacred seeing): Engage in divine seeing by allowing your heart and imagination to enter into one of the images below as a sacred moment. As you gaze at the image, allow your awareness to gently take in both what you’re looking at and what’s going on inside
- [LoveFoward: Practicing the Way of Delight](https://colettelafia.com/delight/) - “Every object, every being, is a jar full of delight.” – Rumi Dear Friends, Welcome to the second installment in my new blog series, LoveForward, exploring the seven ways of living in Divine love that I describe in my new book, The Divine Heart. These qualities and spiritual practices of love are: Receptivity, Delight, Expansiveness, Vulnerability, Acceptance, Mystery, and Gratitude. This
- [Practicing the Way of Delight](https://colettelafia.com/practicing-the-way-of-delight/) - We can also find delight by savoring our experiences, allowing them to feel even more abundant. Remember something that delighted you today, and say a prayer of thanks for it.
- [Delight: Journal Writing Prompt](https://colettelafia.com/delight-journal-writing-prompt/) - JOURNAL WRITING PROMPT Engage in “Savoring Prayer.” Rest your hands on your lap, and for a few minutes simply savor the energy of delight within. Slow down and be fully present for a few breath cycles. Breathing in, I am God’s delight. Breathing out, I savor this moment. Engage in journal writing, using the prompt:
- [Let Your Life Be In Conversation with Me](https://colettelafia.com/let-your-life-be-in-conversation-with-me/) - I discovered these seven ways of inviting in God’s love. Underlying each is a question similar to one posed by James Finley, another core faculty member of the Living School: “How do you give yourself over to that which is giving itself to you?” *Receptivity, Delight, Expansiveness, Acceptance, Vulnerability, Mystery, Gratitude — A quote from my
- [I'm Willing to Get Closer](https://colettelafia.com/im-willing-to-get-closer/) - "Our lives are made up of raw, “in-between” moments, intimate and unfolding, those moments when God catches us unadorned." — A quote from my forthcoming book, The Divine Heart.
- [How Do You Keep Yourself Open?](https://colettelafia.com/how-do-you-keep-yourself-open/) - "Love is always present in all created things and always offering itself. The world is God’s fingerprint and footprint, as St. Bonaventure, the thirteenth-century Franciscan, tells us. Every day, we can allow ourselves to sense the landscapes of our heart and live fully in the world with Spirit as our guide." — A quote from
- [You're Willing to Expand](https://colettelafia.com/youre-willing-to-expand/) - "In this book, I use the language of relationship to write about Divine love. I invite you to join me in bringing your relationship with Divine love into your connection with everyone and everything in your life." — A quote from my forthcoming book, The Divine Heart.
- [Star in the night sky](https://colettelafia.com/star-in-the-night-sky/) - How can I be a star in the night sky? I see you shining brightly. Thank you for bringing your light and your love into the world on this day. Read and share Comfort & Joy with me because comfort given to ourselves and comfort shared make the world a much kinder and better place.
- [In the cave of my heart](https://colettelafia.com/in-the-cave-of-my-heart/) - In the cave of my heart, the light shines. I am there, praying for patience. I am praying with you for more patience in this Season of Light & Love. Read with me for my resources on Comfort & Joy. Link my books: https://colettelafia.com/read-with-colette/#books
- [I hold on in the darkness](https://colettelafia.com/i-hold-on-in-the-darkness/) - I hold on in the darkness and find the light shimmering in me. The rays of sunlight penetrate what is deep in my ocean. Acknowledging and accepting the Season of Light & Love. Wishing you rays of sunlight warm upon your face. Find more warmth in reading with me. My book Comfort & Joy provides
- [I was born to love.](https://colettelafia.com/i-was-born-to-love/) - Honoring the Season of Light & Love. I was born to love. Let nothing stop it. May grace guide me. In the darkness, the light burns within. Wishing all of you love and light in this season as we move through the shortest days and longest nights. I invite you to read with me. Here
- [Tip 1: Comfort & Joy this Holiday](https://colettelafia.com/giving-comfort-joy-this-holiday/) - Throughout December, I will give a new tip daily for giving and receiving comfort and joy during the holiday season. Enjoy! Tip 1 Bring the gift of comfort to others by taking time to listen. Today when you ask someone, “How are you?” take the time to really listen. Listening to another person is a
- [Tip 2: Comfort & Joy for the Holidays](https://colettelafia.com/tip-2-comfort-joy-for-the-holidays/) - Tip 2 Give yourself a comfort break During the holiday season, it’s important to slow down. Give yourself a comfort break—take yourself on a leisurely walk in the park, or meander through a museum quietly, or sit for a while in a café sipping a warm and cozy beverage. What kind of comfort break can
- [Tip 3: Comfort & Joy for the Holidays](https://colettelafia.com/tip-3-comfort-joy-for-the-holidays/) - Tip 3 Find simple ways to create holiday comfort in your home. A cozy and comfortable home brings the holiday spirit to everyone who lives there and everyone who visits. Fill the house with comfort from the smell of freshly baked cookies, or the sound of soft, relaxing music, or the presence of fresh fruit
- [Tip 4: Comfort & Joy for the Holidays](https://colettelafia.com/tip-4-comfort-joy-for-the-holidays/) - Tip 4 Imagine a thread connecting every human being and connect to the holiday spirit. Connecting yourself to the web of life can provide comfort. We are not in each other’s way, but we are the way for each other. We are the sources of comfort for one another. Finding ourselves with more limited resources
- [Tip 5: Comfort & Joy for the Holidays](https://colettelafia.com/tip-5-comfort-joy-for-the-holidays/) - Tip 5 Receive the presence of another person’s tears. The holiday season brings up many emotions for people. Receiving the presence of another person’s tears is a great gift of comfort to give someone. Allow the person to cry, without judgment or interruption. Sometimes there’s nothing to figure out, it just needs to rain tears. Can
- [Tip 6: Comfort & Joy for the Holidays](https://colettelafia.com/tip-6-comfort-joy-for-the-holidays/) - Tip 6 Give presents that evoke comfort. Comfort comes through the senses. Give gifts ... that feel good -- a soft sweater, cashmere socks, a cozy robe that have a wonderful scent -- lavender bubble bath, incense, cooking spices that bring the sounds of comfort and joy -- a CD of favorite music, a wind
- [Tip 7: Comfort & Joy for the Holidays](https://colettelafia.com/tip-7-comfort-joy-for-the-holidays/) - Tip 7 Discover the comfort of gratitude. The best gift you can give someone is your gratitude. Throughout the day, express gratitude: say thank you in a genuine way to the people around you, to your partner for picking up something at the store, to a colleague for helping you with a project, to your
- [Praying with the Psalms](https://colettelafia.com/21-days-of-praying-with-the-psalms/) - For a while now my practice has been to pray a psalm, or part of a psalm, in my morning prayer, before I go into my Centering prayer. The psalms have been a rich part of my life, having heard them prayed in the Catholic mass since I was a girl. The psalms took on
- [Circles](https://colettelafia.com/circles/) - There was a period of time in which I kept painting circles. Large black circles, small red circles, yellow circles intersecting with blue circles. I didn’t have any particular meaning attached to them. It was simply comforting to paint circles. I liked the way my shoulder, arm, and wrist rolled when I painted a circle.
- [Dwelling in the Heart](https://colettelafia.com/dwelling-in-the-heart/) - Colette Lafia · Dwelling in the Heart Welcome to Being Loved Becoming Whole - Living Inside Divine Love. I'm Colette. I'd like us to begin by sharing in a guided meditation together. So I invite you now to close your eyes or lower your gaze. Begin by taking three deep full breaths, inhaling completely, and
- [Places of Comfort](https://colettelafia.com/places-of-comfort/) - Colette Lafia · Places of Comfort Let us begin by connecting more consciously with our breath. By letting ourselves become aware of the in breath and the out breath. Not changing it in any way, just noticing and connecting with it. Letting the breath settle us, connect us and take us more deeply into this
- [Meditation On Stillness](https://colettelafia.com/meditation-on-stillness/) - Colette Lafia · Meditation On Stillness Stillness. Taking a moment to stop. To stop. To give yourself permission to be still. To feel how restful it is to be still. Not that we can ever be completely still because, by nature, we fluctuate, we move, we breath, but there is a settling a stillness that
- [A Time to Pause and Reflect](https://colettelafia.com/a-time-to-pause-and-reflect/) - A few weeks ago, here in San Francisco, the headline read, “100 days of Sheltering In Place.” It made me think of the annual “100 days of Kindergarten,” event we have at the elementary school where I work, a time to recognize all the hard work and learning that has taken place. We have passed
- [Being Grateful to Meet Solitude](https://colettelafia.com/being-grateful-to-meet-solitude/) - How can this be a time of solitude and not just separation and isolation? Thomas Merton, the Christian monk, wrote that “Solitude is not separation,” and that we go into the desert not to escape other people but in order to find them in God. During this pandemic, we’re spending more time with ourselves than
- [Connecting to Our Deepest Self Guided Meditation](https://colettelafia.com/connecting-to-our-deepest-self-guided-meditation/) - What does it mean to connect to our solitude? What does it mean to know that there is a deep, secret, hidden present place within where we meet God and where God meets us. In those tender moments like right now, perhaps feeling overwhelmed, emotionally vulnerable, tired, there is a place within where it's vast,
- [Being Present To Yourself Guided Meditation](https://colettelafia.com/being-present-to-yourself-guided-meditation/) - Breathing in and breathing out. Arriving in this moment. Arriving home to yourself and to your heart. Letting yourself connect more consciously with your breath. Breathing in and breathing out. Taking the time to be with yourself. Connect with yourself more deeply. Finding the comfort that dwells within simply by being present to yourself. Hearing
- [Being a Vessel for Desire and Discovery](https://colettelafia.com/being-a-vessel-for-desire-and-discovery/) - With the summer fog settling in, I'm finding myself nestled in my home studio, re-engaging with the painting process. As I place paint on canvas or paper, I follow desire. Not just my desire, but I discover the desire of the painting. The spirituality of creativity invites us into a "discovery" process. What does the
- [Remembering to Water Seeds of Joy!](https://colettelafia.com/remembering-to-water-seeds-of-joy/) - Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us to water the seeds of joy in ourselves, especially during times of suffering. He writes, “When you are suffering, look deeply at your situation and find the conditions for joy that are already there, already available. You have eyes that can see, lungs that can breathe, legs that can walk,
- [In the river of loss and love](https://colettelafia.com/what-is-nourishing-us-during-these-difficult-days/) - A few weeks ago, my father-in-law died. Although he didn’t have the coronavirus, it likely played a role since he couldn’t receive a hospital procedure for a “nonessential” medical issue, and he ended up dying of complications that resulted from his condition. Attending his online burial and family gatherings to honor him was both heartbreaking
- [Slow down for five minutes and be present.](https://colettelafia.com/slow-down-for-five-minutes-and-be-present/) - Slow down for five minutes and be present. Today, when you ask someone, “How are you?” take the time to really listen. Listening to another person is a true gift of comfort in our busy world. For more Tips for Finding Everyday Comfort & Joy sign up for Colette's upcoming Comfort & Joy retreat. An
- [Encourage someone to take a comfort break with you.](https://colettelafia.com/encourage-someone-to-take-a-comfort-break-with-you/) - Encourage someone to take a comfort break with you. See a movie or an art show, walk barefoot in the sand, or enjoy your garden. For more inspiration to find comfort and joy in everyday moments, sign up for Colette's upcoming Living Comfort, Living Joy online retreat. This 11-Day Online Retreat is focused on bringing
- [Find easy ways to create more comfort in your home.](https://colettelafia.com/find-easy-ways-to-create-more-comfort-in-your-home/) - Find easy ways to create more comfort in your home. A comfortable home benefits everyone who lives there and everyone who visits. Get new throw pillows for the sofa, put fresh flowers in a vase on the dining table, make Sunday morning breakfast, or clear out the linen closet and neatly fold the towels. Finding
- [Imagine a thread connecting every human being.](https://colettelafia.com/imagine-a-thread-connecting-every-human-being/) - Imagine a thread connecting every human being. Connecting yourself to the web of life can provide comfort. We are not in each other’s way, but we are the way for each other. We are the sources of comfort for one another. Colette offers a multitude of inspiration for welcoming more comfort and joy into your
- [Gratitude Ripple](https://colettelafia.com/gratitude-ripple/) - Let's create a ripple of gratitude this November. For inspiration and support, listen to the Three Gratitudes audio, by Carrie Newcomer: What are you grateful for?
- [How Our Special Places Connect Us to Gratitude](https://colettelafia.com/how-our-special-places-connect-us-to-gratitude/) - This past July, I decided to leave the San Francisco summer fog, and head across the Golden Gate Bridge to a retreat center in warm Marin county. The Santa Sabina Retreat Center, tucked away in a corner of the Dominican College campus, feels likes a large home, with 40 single bedrooms surrounding a lovely courtyard with
- [Here's a Book I'm Sure You'll Enjoy!](https://colettelafia.com/heres-a-book-im-sure-youll-enjoy/) - I'm reading Unteachable Lessons: Why Wisdom Can't be Taught (And Why That's Okay), by Carl McColman, a contemplative teacher and author. Check out his website here. The first thing that pulled me in when I began reading Unteachable Lessons was its willingness to be honest and searching. Through his warm and inviting storytelling, we come
- [The Need for Renewal](https://colettelafia.com/the-need-for-renewal/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Renewal Is Essential. Last Saturday, I found myself feeling unsettled within, and I walked into my church to have a quiet moment to center myself. Fortunately, I bumped into Father Joe, a very casual and caring priest that is always friendly. We sat together, and I began expressing how overwhelmed I was feeling, with grief,
- [Grief Can Transform Us](https://colettelafia.com/opening-ourselves-to-healing/) - Wednesday Wisdom. How Grief Can Transform Us. Now that both my parents are deceased, I feel the need to let grief transform me. The other day I was looking for something on my book shelf and came across my father’s copy of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. I pulled the hardback book
- [What Season of Your Life Are you In?](https://colettelafia.com/be-in-the-season-of-your-life/) - Wednesday Wisdom. The Season of Your Life. On Monday, I had the great joy of holding a sacred circle with a group from the School of Applied Theology here in the Bay Area. The prayer focus for our time together was to reflect upon the season of our lives. To begin our time together, we sat quietly praying with
- [Keep Love Blossoming](https://colettelafia.com/keep-love-blossoming/) - Wednesday Wisdom. How Letting Go Renews Love and Life. This past week, I celebrated my 30th anniversary. Over the years, my husband and I have shared times of deep joy and deep sorrow. We have shared in the grief of losing loved ones and in the comfort of our faith and friendship. Each step of
- [How to Open Up More in Your Life](https://colettelafia.com/how-to-open-up-to-abundance/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Let Go. Let More. Gifts of the Spirit Last Friday, at the end of facilitating a day of prayer at Mercy Center, I had a moment of surprise. It was a Spirit-filled day, as participants prayed with the Seven Gifts of the Spirit, created art work, and engaged in contemplative listening and sharing. In
- [Come Home To Yourself](https://colettelafia.com/come-home-to-yourself/) - Wednesday Wisdom: How to Trust Change. Last week, I received an email from my supervisor informing me that my school placement for next year needed to change. What! was my immediate response. I didn't want to make a change. It has been a hard year for me, with losing my mother and all, and I didn't
- [Nurturing Your Deepest Self](https://colettelafia.com/nurturing-deepest-self/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Nurturing Your Deepest Self. I was talking to a friend yesterday who just returned from Italy, where he visited Assisi, and many other places that were filled with art, history, and churches. Being a practicing Catholic, he loved the presence of the sacred tradition that was prevalent all around him. As we talked
- [See Yourself as a Manifestation of Divine Love](https://colettelafia.com/see-manifestation-divine-love/) - Wednesday Wisdom: See Yourself as a Manifestation of Divine Love. “…Our very being and the very being of everyone and everything around us is the generosity of God. God is creating us in the present moment, loving us into being, such that our very presence is the manifested presence of God.” --James Finely, from Christian
- [Living in Wonder & Mystery](https://colettelafia.com/living-wonder-mystery/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Living in Wonder & Mystery. The Christmas season is a time of wonder and mystery. It reminds us that love and compassion are being birthed in our lives and in the world around us, even in the midst of sorrow. This mystery naturally brings us to silence. What if we allow ourselves to
- [Practice Hospitality with Yourself and Others](https://colettelafia.com/practice-hospitality-others/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Hospitality: A Way of Being In a few weeks, I will be doing a mini-retreat on the topic of hospitality. Two things have inspired me to explore this topic more in depth: my personal experience at a Benedictine monastery, and my work as a spiritual director. In the rule of Saint Benedict, it is
- [Faith is an Opening](https://colettelafia.com/faith-is-an-opening/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Faith is an Opening. "Faith is our small but necessary offering to any new change or encounter," writes Richard Rohr in The Naked Now. I have been reflecting on this thought for the past week, as I continue to respond to the changes I am encountering in my new work situation and with a
- [How to Live a Life of Deep Love](https://colettelafia.com/live-life-deep-love/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Living Deep Love We are created from love. We are love. And during this period of Lent, a time of deep reflection and reflection, I am noticing what separates me from love. What separates you from love and closes your heart? I was really struck in yesterday's gospel, (Luke 6:36-38), by the words,
- [Relationship is Key](https://colettelafia.com/what-is-the-shape-of-your-god/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Relationship is Key Last week was Dr. Seuss’s birthday, and my week at the elementary school library where I work part-time was filled with reading fun phrases like “there’s a Bofa on my Sofa,” and “A Zamp in my Lamp,” and a “Nink in my Sink,” and “A Nureau in my Bureau.” The
- [What Does it Mean to Hold Things in Love?](https://colettelafia.com/what-does-it-mean-to-hold-things-in-love/) - Wednesday Wisdom: What Does it Mean to Hold Things in Love? Last week, I asked a rather quiet 5th grade girl to make a slight edit on her page for the class book we were making during library time about the women's suffrage movement. When the students were working at the tables, I saw the
- [Practice Visio Divina: More Ways to Pray](https://colettelafia.com/practice-visio-divina-more-ways-to-pray/) - Wednesday Wisdom: More Ways to Pray. Since the Lenten season is about connecting more deeply with prayer, I wanted to share a practice I really enjoy. It's called Visio Divina, sacred seeing, which invites the viewer into divine seeing. You can use this form of prayer with images from art books, magazines, or photos in your
- [How to be Enfolded in Mercy?](https://colettelafia.com/how-to-be-enfolded-in-mercy/) - Wednesday Wisdom: How to be Enfolded in Mercy? As we enter into the Easter season, I find myself living the transformative passage from death into life. Recently, a very dear friendship in my life ended, and as I mourn the loss, I am also holding the hope and promise of new life that happens through
- [Staying in the Dynamic Flow of Life and Love](https://colettelafia.com/staying-in-the-dynamic-flow-of-life-and-love/) - Wednesday Wisdom: In the Dynamic Flow of Life and Love During this Easter season, I am finding inspiration through what I am learning in the Living School. I am drawn to the notion of God as a dynamic flow, and that the energy of the Spirit is the energy of love. Our journey is to
- [Living a Life of Self Compassion](https://colettelafia.com/practicing-deep-self-compassion/) - Wednesday Wisdom: The Need for Self Compassion For today, I'd like to share an audio meditation I made for my current online retreat: Living Comfort, Living Joy. I invite you to take a few moments, relax, and listen to it. Please visit the Mercy Center website to learn more about the retreat. Living Comfort, Living
- [Feeling the Music](https://colettelafia.com/feeling-the-music/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Feeling the Music Feel the comfort and joy of music by listening to something that is special to you. It may be a song that holds fond memories, or one that you like to dance to. It could be your favorite music to sing along with, either by yourself or with others. What music
- [Listening to Our Desires](https://colettelafia.com/wednesday-wisdom-praying-together/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Praying Together. I invite you to light a candle, or gaze at the candles in this picture, and come into this sacred moment together. All our candles are prayers that we are praying together. Begin by bringing your attention to your breath, not attempting to change it in any way, but simply feeling
- [What Wants to Grow in Your Life?](https://colettelafia.com/what-wants-to-grow-in-your-life/) - Wednesday Wisdom: What Wants to Grow in Your Life? Years ago, when I was a retreat coordinator designing and facilitating renewal retreats for tenure teachers, I worked closely with Angeles Arrien, who has since passed away, but will always live on within me. I remember on one spring retreat, the teachers and I gathered in
- [Embracing Change](https://colettelafia.com/embracing-change/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Embracing Change. It feels to me like May is a month of way closing and way opening for many of us—the school year is ending, people are moving, relationships are changing, and summer is approaching. It's a time of change, as well as a time of renewal. In his book, Let Your Life Speak, Parker
- [Keeping Your Heart Open](https://colettelafia.com/keeping-your-heart-open/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Keeping Your Heart Open. Today, I would like to share my recent guest blog post in gratefulness.org. Please read here! From the post: Here are five simple ways to stay inspired to continue keeping your heart open: Find prayers, poems, or books to encourage you. Be in nature—look at the sky, breath in the
- [Fill Yourself with Delight](https://colettelafia.com/fill-yourself-with-delight/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Fill Yourself with Delight. "Every object, every being, is a jar full of delight.” – Rumi Delight—what a beautiful word! Say the word aloud as you read it: Delight. It’s so uplifting—a word that begs for an answer to the question: How am I living a life of delight during these summer months?
- [How Do We Meet Our Restlessness?](https://colettelafia.com/how-do-we-meet-our-restlessness/) - Wednesday Wisdom: How do we turn restlessness, into restfulness? As I find myself in the middle of my summer break from my school library job, I am noticing the way I am relating to this period of time. I notice the way I can become restless, and even anxious with the openness. Yet, I know
- [Who are you?](https://colettelafia.com/who-are-you/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Who are You? I just returned from a week at the Living School Symposium. It was a week of deepening my commitment to living from a contemplative stance. A contemplative stance is one that sees the whole, the unity of all, and not only the parts. As Richard Rohr writes, "During contemplation we come
- [Step Back, Take a Breath, Let Go with Love](https://colettelafia.com/step-back-take-a-breath-let-go-with-love/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Step Back, Take a Breath, and Let Go with Love. I've just returned from spending Labor Day weekend in Toronto with family. Before my husband and I went on the trip, we reflected upon how we wanted to relate to our family during this time of change and transition--some health concerns, marriage problems,
- [Treat Yourself with Kindness](https://colettelafia.com/remembering-to-treat-yourself-with-kindness/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Staying in the Flow of Love Last Friday, I led a spirit-filled 'Day of Prayer' at Mercy Center. One of the things we reflected upon was the importance of noticing what keeps us in the flow of love, and what pulls us out of it. I have found that a practice of self
- [Listening to the Wisdom of Gratitude](https://colettelafia.com/gratitude-awakening-the-heart/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Gratitude: Awakening the Heart I just had this article published on Gratefulness.org, and I wanted to share it here as my Wednesday Wisdom this week. It's a great reminder to live in gratitude, and to practice daily gratitude. Enjoy! And check out the gratefulness website; it's amazing. *** The inspiration for writing a 21-day Gratitude Challenge blog series came
- [Unify Your Life: Wednesday Wisdom](https://colettelafia.com/unify-your-life-wednesday-wisdom/) - How can surrendering allow us to see and experience our lives in a more integrated way? Thomas Merton wrote: If you want to have a spiritual life you must unify your life. A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all. (from Thoughts in Solitude, XII) The above statement strikes me deeply right now.
- [Give Thanks: Wednesday Wisdom](https://colettelafia.com/give-thanks-wednesday-wisdeom/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Give Thanks It’s been a crazy couple of days at the elementary school where I work as the part-time librarian. Children have such a keen sense of knowing when things are changing, like animals tracking scent and sound. It’s quite special to be around them—even when they test your patience! This Thanksgiving season, as I walked
- [Wednesday Wisdom: Be Comforted](https://colettelafia.com/wednesday-wisdom-comforted/) - Blessed are those who mourn: for they will be comforted Sunday evening my mother died. She was elderly, and in many ways this was expected at some point soon, but the series of events in the last month were dramatic, and her death felt sudden. I pulled out some vignettes from my book Comfort & Joy:
- [Wednesday Wisdom: Taking A Break](https://colettelafia.com/wednesday-wisdom-taking-break/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Taking A Break. Wednesday Wisdom will be taking a break for the rest of the summer. Please enjoy previous posts on this site; there's a lot of content here that I hope will be encouraging and supportive of your sacred journey. During this hiatus, I will be discerning how I am being called
- [Wednesday Wisdom: It's All About Living](https://colettelafia.com/wednesday-wisdom-living/) - I am immersed in reading Richard Rohr's book, The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics See. Richard is one of the wisdom teachers in the Living School, which I started in August. I wanted to share some of Richard's thoughts in this book, as food for thought: Prayer is about changing you, not about
- [Wednesday Wisdom: Connect with the Energy of Gratitude](https://colettelafia.com/wednesday-wisdom-connect-with-the-energy-of-gratitude/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Connect with the Energy of Gratitude I'm noticing that I am going through more layers of loss over a long-term friendship that ended last spring. Recently, my mind began replaying the story of what happened, and even, what could have happened. I felt my resistance to even thinking about the situation, and to
- [Wednesday Wisdom: Learning to Listen to the Spirit](https://colettelafia.com/wednesday-wisdom-learning-to-make-healthy-changes/) - The school year has begun. I am busy again, with my part-time library schedule and my spiritual work. Yesterday, I found myself feeling edgy after a long day. In the evening, I engaged in the Ignatian practice known as the Daily Examen, which is a prayer practice of reviewing our day with the Spirit. I've
- [Wednesday Wisdom: To Love and Let Go](https://colettelafia.com/wednesday-wisdom-to-love-and-let-go/) - In the end we discover that to love and let go can be the same thing. —Jack Kornfield I was really struck by this quote when it landed in my inbox last week, as I continue to process the loss of a friendship in my life. When I read this quote, I felt the invitation to
- [Wednesday Wisdom: Cultivating the Heart of Compassion](https://colettelafia.com/wednesday-wisdom-cultivating-the-heart-of-compassion/) - There are so many moments in which we can be a compassionate presence to another person. If we reflect upon even a day in our lives, we will realize this. Last week, my elderly in-laws were in town, visiting us after an extended cruise in which they encountered days of stormy weather. They arrived exhausted,
- [Facing Change with Gratitude](https://colettelafia.com/facing-change-with-gratitude/) - As we begin to feel autumn in the air, with the golden hue of the light, the smell of cool air, and the variety of apples filling the farmer's markets, we sense change and transition. Change isn’t simply something we live through, it’s a teacher asking us to become fully present to and active within
- [Inspiration Fountain: Love is Essential](https://colettelafia.com/inspiration-fountain-love-is-essential/) - ‘To create is a way of loving. If I don’t love the work I do, it is meaningless, it is just a way of making money. And money doesn’t have anything to do with love.’ – Ole Jakob Nielsen Watch this and be inspired!
- [Sacred Practice: Restore](https://colettelafia.com/sacred-practice-restore/) - Learning to give ourselves a break, sometimes for just 5 minutes, is a great way to shift our perspective, shake off negative energy, and quickly restore ourselves. Yes, we would love to be on a plane to Hawaii, but for most of us that is not possible in this moment, so we do what we can, not
- [Sacred Practice: Leaning Back](https://colettelafia.com/sacred-practice-leaning-back/) - We spend so much of our time sitting on the edge of our seats, waiting to get to what’s next. Our thoughts race ahead, leaving us distracted and unable to fully articulate our needs or how to meet them. We’re perpetually leaning forward, itching to move on to the next item on our To-Do List. What
- [Sacred Practice: The Power of a Touchstone](https://colettelafia.com/sacred-practice-the-power-of-a-touchstone/) - Every day is like taking a short trip–we have places to go and things to do. So, no wonder we can get lost at times during our day–and even ask ourselves: What am I doing? Where am I going next? In many ways, we have to establish our own guidebook for daily living. One practice that can help us to
- [Sacred Practice: Take a Moment to Relax](https://colettelafia.com/sacred-practice-take-a-moment-to-relax/) - Between work, family, and the 1001 items on our To-Do Lists, rushing around has become a way of life for us all. But the more relaxed you are in your body, the more you’ll flow through the day and allow yourself to live in communion with the sacred. Yes, you can be busy and be more relaxed. It just takes awareness and practice. Once
- [Sacred Practice: Connecting Within](https://colettelafia.com/sacred-practice-connecting-within/) - When we are putting out a lot of energy, interacting with many people, and constantly responding to demands, we can begin to find ourselves off balance and drained. How can we renew our energy, and stay connected to ourselves throughout the day? Practice: First, be willing to stop and acknowledge what you’re feeling. There is
- [Sacred Practice: Look at Yourself with Love](https://colettelafia.com/sacred-practice-look-at-yourself-with-love/) - There may be moments in the day when we don’t feel good about ourselves—for a lot of reasons. In those moments, can we find a way to bring tenderness and love to ourselves? Here is a practice that offers you a way to respond with love, rather than judgment. It’s adapted from the book: The Sacred
- [Sacred Practice: Listening With the Heart](https://colettelafia.com/sacred-practice-listening-with-the-heart/) - Listening is a sacred practice. Yet, at times, we only hear on the surface of life. So how do we learn to listen deeply? How do we learn to listen to our body, to our heart’s desire, or to our inner stirrings? There’s a sensitive way of listening to others, as well, to their joys and sorrows. And
- [Sacred Practice: Discover More of Your True Self](https://colettelafia.com/sacred-practice-discover-more-of-your-true-self/) - These Sacred Practices are designed as prayers. You can give them as much time as you have in the moment, and they can be repeated. Discovering More of Your True Self In the midst of all the noise both around us and within us, from our lists of things to do, to the constant bombardment of media,
- [Sacred Practice: Permission](https://colettelafia.com/sacred-practice-permission/) - Permission doesn’t sound like a very spiritual word, but I’ve come to realize it’s what allows us to say YES. We can give ourselves permission to listen to our desires, to fulfill our longings, and to care for our needs. Yet so many of us keep our desires tucked away, unfulfilled. This creates a pressure that
- [Sacred Practice: Seeking Peace](https://colettelafia.com/sacred-practice-seeking-peace/) - Sometimes we find ourselves holding on to something we know we need to let go of. And sometimes, we find that even though we have done a lot of healing around something, there is still more to let go, forgive, and release. How do we seek peace at times when we find our wounds are being
- [Sacred Practice: Cultivating Expansiveness](https://colettelafia.com/sacred-practice-cultivating-expansiveness/) - Sacred Practice: Cultivating Expansiveness Sometimes, we need to step out of the minute details of everyday life and give ourselves some breathing room. Through habit we get caught up in reviewing our lives—from past decisions to present situations. In all of this, our experience of the sacred can get lost. At times like these, it’s helpful
- [Do you need to practice self compassion?](https://colettelafia.com/do-you-need-to-practice-self-compassion/) - The last 48-hours took me by surprise. I found myself caught up in some ingrained patterns and habits of response. As I was making holiday plans with my family, I fell into trying to please some people, and accommodate others. I lost balance, and before I knew it I wasn't seeing clearly what was really right
- [An Open Heart](https://colettelafia.com/an-open-heart-2/) - At times, comfort is about bringing an open heart to a situation. Acceptance of others is rooted in accepting yourself. If you are tired today, emotionally vulnerable, or angry and frustrated, make room for it. Learn to gently say, I accept all of myself. I hold my feelings with tenderness, love, and comfort. With this acceptance, I
- [Inspiration Fountain](https://colettelafia.com/inspiration-fountain-day-1/) - This year, I will be starting a new category on my blog called, "Inspiration Fountain," in which I will be posting various teachings, images, meditations, reflections, and more, that inspire me--and hopefully will inspire you. Our prayer life is always growing, let these words from Richard Rohr inspire you.
- [Inspiration Fountain](https://colettelafia.com/inspiration-fountain-day-2/) - Although I've watched this video dozen of times, it always inspires me. It is such a perfect reminder of the gift of life and living and each other. Enjoy!
- [Inspiration Fountain](https://colettelafia.com/inspiration-fountain-day-3/) - What really inspires us? It's such an important question. What renews us, and gives us life? As I share things with you, I encourage you to notice what truly inspires you? I find this video of the Prayer of St. Francis to inspire me. Enjoy! Also, here's a type of guided meditation I use during
- [The Doorway: Life lessons from a Trappist Monk #14](https://colettelafia.com/the-doorway-life-lessons-from-a-trappist-monk-14/) - I don’t keep focused on God all day long but I do have several methods to bring me back. I have a personal rule never to cross my legs to remind myself that I am always in the presence of the Almighty. And I always say a certain prayer when I bow in church. Thus
- [Generosity: Life Lessons from a Trappist Monk#13](https://colettelafia.com/generosity-life-lessons-from-a-trappist-monk13/) - In this series of blog posts, Life lessons from a Trappist Monk, I share the wisdom of my late friend Brother Rene, who was a monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani for over fifty years. For many years we corresponded by letter, and here I share excerpts from his letters. All God asks and what
- [Turning towards Lightness: Life Lessons from a Trappist Monk #12](https://colettelafia.com/turn-towards-light-life-lessons-from-a-trappist-monk-12/) - In this series of blog posts, Life lessons from a Trappist Monk, I share the wisdom of my late friend Brother Rene, who was a monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani for over fifty years. For many years we corresponded by letter, and here I share excerpts from his letters. God gives us the desire
- [True Desire: Life Lessons From a Trappist Monk #11](https://colettelafia.com/the-meaning-of-your-desire-life-lessons-from-a-trappist-monk-11/) - God only knows what the deepest meaning of your desire really is. Being Love, God can only answer you with Love to your ultimate joy. Have no fears or doubts. --excerpt from Brother Rene letter, dated April 2004 We are now at the end of Lent, and I know for me it has been a
- [Give Love: Life Lessons from a Trappist Monk #10](https://colettelafia.com/give-love-life-lessons-from-a-trappist-monk-10/) - To be filled with Love is one thing, but it must also be given away continually. The more you give the more you get. Never let the ball stop with you. Make an effort to give love and to give love and to give love. Stop giving and it turns sour. –excerpt from Brother Rene
- [Sink into Silence: Life Lessons from a Trappist Monk #9](https://colettelafia.com/sink-into-silence-life-lessons-from-a-trappist-monk-9/) - Find out who God is and what you mean when you think of your concept of Him. Your concept will be very small (because He is above our thinking) but you will fill your heart with Awe and Wonder. Marvel at His Greatness, power, and mercy. All of this will be a fun activity to
- [Cooperate with the Divine: Life Lessons from a Trappist Monk#8](https://colettelafia.com/open-up-to-your-life-today/) - God's desire is for all of us to use His Wisdom and His Love to relate and help each other. It is not a question of simply being passive while God does all the rest. He asks our active cooperation. --Brother Rene, excerpt from letter dated October 12, 2003 It is the end of a
- [We Heal for Each Other: Life Lessons from a Trappist Monk #7](https://colettelafia.com/we-heal-for-each-other-life-lessons-from-a-trappist-monk-7/) - In this series of blog posts, Life lessons from a Trappist Monk, I share the wisdom of my late friend Brother Rene, who was a monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani for over fifty years. For many years we corresponded by letter, and here I share excerpts from his letters. The real truth is we
- [Feel Connected: Life Lessons from a Trappist Monk #6](https://colettelafia.com/life-lessons-from-a-trappist-monk6/) - In this series of blog posts, Life lessons from a Trappist Monk, I share the wisdom of my late friend Brother Rene, who was a monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani for over fifty years. For many years we corresponded by letter, and here I share excerpts from his letters. In our surrender, we still
- [Be Creative with Your Spiritual Practice: Life Lessons from a Trappist Monk # 3](https://colettelafia.com/wednesday-wisdom-3-lessons-from-a-trappist-monk/) - In this series of blog posts, Life lessons from a Trappist Monk, I share the wisdom of my late friend Brother Rene, who was a monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani for over fifty years. For many years we corresponded by letter, and here I share excerpts from his letters. “Remember I am no more
- [Within Water](https://colettelafia.com/within-water/) - In the deep waters of uncertainty, I hear Brother René’s words: “Do not give up hope.” What could this possibly mean for me—a woman in her forties, living without the children she had desired to birth, without her beloved sister, without the security of steady income, and who, at the end of a long day,
- [Wide Spaces](https://colettelafia.com/wide-spaces/) - In yoga class, I raise my arms to a T shape, but tightness limits my movement. The instructor comes over and says, “You can reach out further than that.” She places her open palm in the middle of my back and pushes into it gently. As she does, my chest lifts, allowing my arms to
- [Healing in a Relationship: Living Surrender #8](https://colettelafia.com/healing-in-a-relationship-living-surrender-8/) - I recently returned home from visiting my family in Southern California, where I was warm and wearing sleeveless shirts. When my husband picked me up at the San Francisco airport, the cool breeze forced me to grab a jacket, cover myself, and try to warm up. But I couldn't. Because on the ride home, my
- [Finding Contemplative Spaces](https://colettelafia.com/finding-contemplative-spaces/) - It was a typical San Francisco summer day, cool and foggy, so I put on my down-filled vest and headed to the Japanese Tea Garden for a Monday morning walk. I love to walk in gardens. They require me to slow down and savor what's around me. And the Japanese tea garden is very special and holds
- [Seeking Surrender Interview](https://colettelafia.com/my-interview-with-kayce-hughlett/) - I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed and featured on Kayce Hughlett’s blog. Here is the interview: Can you please tell us what finding the Divine day-to-day looks like for you today? Colette: For me, finding the Divine day-to-day is about becoming more aware of God’s love—a great love that holds us and our
- [Living into Surrendering: Intention](https://colettelafia.com/surrendering-into-living-intention/) - Surrendering into Living, Day 2 O rescue me, God, my helper, and my tongue shall ring out your goodness, O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise. --from Psalm 51 The monks at the Abbey of Gethsemani, where I met Brother Rene, start the morning prayer with: Lord, open my
- [Living into Surrendering: Allowing](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrender-allowing/) - Living Into Surrendering, day 3: Allowing I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others, for the benefit of our own peace of mind, and the peace of those around us. Yesterday was a full day at work. I had to meet the new folks at
- [Living into Surrendering: Be Loved](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrendering-be-loved/) - Living into Surrendering, day 4. How do I live into surrender, when I don't feel good about myself right now? I fell into some habits yesterday, and overindulged when I was out with my husband and good friend for dinner. I woke up early this morning, feeling heavy in my body and spirit, with a sense of disappointment in
- [Living into Surrender: Meet the Moment](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrender-meet-the-moment/) - Living Into Surrendering: Day 5 I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others, for the benefit of our own peace of mind, and the peace of those around us. Ten Ways to Practice Surrender Today: Practice patience with whatever is occurring—I’m in another cycle of
- [Living into Surrendering: Small Ways and Big Ways](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrendering-trust/) - My daily journey, and invitation to all of us, to live into surrendering for 21 days continues. Today is Day 6. And even though I have written an entire book on the subject, I am reminded of what St. Benedict in his Rule writes: "Always we begin again." Each day. Each moment. An invitation to surrender. In small ways and
- [Living into Surrendering: Be Gentle](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrendering-the-path-of-gentleness/) - Living Into Surrendering: Day 7 I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others. I invite you to join me, for the benefit of your own peace of mind, and the peace of those around you. For today's offering, I would like to share some prayers and
- [Living into Surrendering: Silence](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrendering-silence/) - Living Into Surrendering: Day 8, Dwelling in Silence. I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others. I invite you to join me, for the benefit of your own peace of mind, and the peace of those around you. Yesterday, I found myself in the in-between space. Someone I
- [Living into Surrendering: Feeling our Feelings](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrendering-feeling-our-feelings/) - Living Into Surrendering: Day 9, Feeling our Feelings. I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others. I invite you to join me, for the benefit of your own peace of mind, and the peace of those around you. How do we meet our anger with any
- [Living Into Surrendering: Rest](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrendering-rest/) - Living Into Surrendering: Day 10, Rest I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others. I invite you to join me, for the benefit of your own peace, and the peace of those around you. I am writing my post a little later today, because when I
- [Living into Surrendering: Vulnerability](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrendering-vulnerability/) - Living Into Surrendering: Day 11, Vulnerability I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others. I invite you to join me, for the benefit of your own peace, and the peace of those around you. Today is the reception for my art exhibit. I have always been
- [Living into Surrendering: Practice Gazing](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrendering-practice-gazing/) - Living Into Surrendering: Day 12, Gazing I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others. I invite you to join me, for the benefit of your own peace, and the peace of those around you. My prayer today is to have a more creative gaze on
- [Living into Surrendering: Be Awake](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrendering-be-awake/) - Living Into Surrendering: Day 13, Be Awake I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others. I invite you to join me, for the benefit of your own peace, and the peace of those around you. “I have had a constant companion in God,” Brother Rene, my
- [Living into Surrendering: Be Held](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrendering-be-held/) - Living Into Surrendering: Day 14, Be Held I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others. I invite you to join me, for the benefit of your own peace, and the peace of those around you. Can I let myself be held, instead of holding on so
- [Living into Surrendering: Listen](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrendering-listen/) - Living Into Surrendering: Day 15, Listen I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others. I invite you to join me, for the benefit of your own peace, and the peace of those around you. I am so full of resistance! How do I even turn towards
- [Living into Surrendering: Patience](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrendering-patience/) - Living Into Surrendering: Day 16, Patience I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others. I invite you to join me, for the benefit of your own peace, and the peace of those around you. What am I being called to let go of? Fear. After careful
- [Living into Surrendering: Present Moment](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrendering-present-moment/) - Living Into Surrendering: Day 17, Present Moment I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others. I invite you to join me, for the benefit of your own peace, and the peace of those around you. I feel like a garden that is settling down after
- [Living into Surrendering, Day 18: Desire](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrendering-day-18-be-love/) - Living Into Surrendering: Listen to Your Desire. I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others. I invite you to join me, for the benefit of your own peace, and the peace of those around you. Yesterday was a bumpy day. Even with the best intention to
- [Living into Surrendering: Day 19, Trust](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrendering-day-19-trust/) - Living Into Surrendering: Day 19, I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others. I invite you to join me, for the benefit of your own peace, and the peace of those around you. Where am I putting my attention? Because where I place my attention
- [Living into Surrendering: Day 20, Daily Awareness](https://colettelafia.com/the-spirit-of-surrender-day-20/) - http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-examen/how-can-i-pray Living Into Surrendering: Day 20, Daily Awareness. I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others. I invite you to join me, for the benefit of your own peace, and the peace of those around you. As we reach these last days of 21-days of living
- [Living into Surrendering: Day 21, Stay Inspired](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrendering-day-21-stay-inspired/) - Living Into Surrendering: Day 21, Stay Inspired. I have decided to live into surrender more consciously for 21 days, and share the journey with others. I invite you to join me, for the benefit of your own peace, and the peace of those around you. How do we stay inspired to surrender? We must learn to walk
- [Write Your Personal Manifesto](https://colettelafia.com/write-personal-manifesto/) - I invite you to write your own personal manifesto! I decided to give it a try after feeling defeated after working hard on a proposal that ended up not working out. I needed to feel my power; to believe in myself; and trust in the way my life is unfolding. Write yours today! My Personal Manifesto: Don't let
- [Where do you hear the invitation to surrender?](https://colettelafia.com/love-6/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Where do you hear the invitation to surrender in your life? Save Save
- [Interviews with Inspiring People - Author Kayce Stevens Hughlett](https://colettelafia.com/interviews-with-inspiring-people-author-kayce-stevens-hughlett/) - Author Kayce Stevens Hughlett on “BLUE” --interviewed facilitated by Colette Lafia. I had the great gift of being interviewed and featured on Kayce’s blog when my book, Seeking Surrender, came out a few months ago. It is now my pleasure to interview Kayce around her new book, Blue: a novel, which is due out September 10.
- [Interview with Jonathan Montaldo](https://colettelafia.com/interview-with-jonathan-montaldo/) - Interview with Jonathan Montaldo, November 2015 facilitated by Colette Lafia I had the great joy of meeting Jonathan Montaldo twelve years ago at the Santa Sabina Center in San Rafael, California, when he led a retreat based on the teachings of Thomas Merton. Over the years we have shared a friendship, and I'm grateful that our
- [Interview with Carl McColman on Befriending Silence: Discovering the Gifts of Cistercian Spirituality](https://colettelafia.com/interview-with-carl-mccolman/) - Interview with Carl McColman, January 2016 facilitated by Colette Lafia Carl McColman and I share a mutual appreciation and affection for the monastic life. We first connected last year when he read and reviewed my book, Seeking Surrender: How a Trappist Monk Taught me to Trust and Embrace Life. Now, I am delighted to return
- [Interview with Paula Huston about her new book One Ordinary Sunday](https://colettelafia.com/interview-paula-huston-new-book-one-ordinary-sunday/) - Interviewed by Colette Lafia It is my pleasure to offer this interview with Paula Huston about her new book, One Ordinary Sunday: A Meditation on the Mystery of the Mass, which was recently released by Ave Maria Press. It is a brilliant and accessible book on the rich history, profound mystery, and abundant gifts of the
- [Inspiration Fountain](https://colettelafia.com/inspiration-fountain-day-4/) - My older sister was a very busy therapist before she retired last year. I remember she always told me that she tried to look at each person she saw in a day as 'a child of God.' Today, her words inspired me. As students came into the library with a question, or to search for
- [What Inspires You?](https://colettelafia.com/what-inspires-you/) - So often we start a new year making a list of all the things we think we are suppose to do. Yet, what if we started the new year by pausing for a moment and connecting to all the things that inspire us. What Inspires me? a gratitude practicethe orange sky at sunsetbeing honest with
- [What is Your Pattern of Growth?](https://colettelafia.com/the-pattern-of-growth/) - Many times, I have found myself ending the year making a list of all the things that happened, focusing on what I got done and what I was able to do. I've done this since I was a child, checking off my accomplishments, giving order to my otherwise chaotic family life. However, this year, I
- [Listen to the Sound of Silence](https://colettelafia.com/listen-to-the-sound-of-silence/) - All creation holds its breath, listening within me, because to hear you, I keep silent. Rainer Maria Rilke, from The Book of Monastic Life This past weekend, I took time out from the constant buzz of city life, and spent a few days at a friend's house in the country. I didn't realize how much
- [Treating Yourself as Precious](https://colettelafia.com/treating-yourself-as-precious/) - Treating Yourself as Precious. Over the weekend, I helped out at a retreat given by James Finely, at Mercy Center, Burlingame on the theme of the Deathless Nature of Love. During the retreat, Finley, who is both a spiritual director and a psychotherapist, talked about ways that we open ourselves to the Infinite Love of
- [How to Live a Life of Hospitality](https://colettelafia.com/4572-2/) - I have been reflecting upon the idea of a rhythm of life, since first being introduced to it through the Living School, which I am currently attending. The rhythm of life is a framework for one’s spiritual life and daily commitments. In it are four components: 1. Contemplative Prayer and Meditation—a commitment to a daily
- [Hospitality is About Who We Are](https://colettelafia.com/hospitality-is-about-who-we-are/) - It was a misty, humid evening, as our group gathered in the Victorian building of the Spiritual Life Center, here in San Francisco, for the first of the three-part mini series on Radical Hospitality. Sitting in a circle, we began our evening with a few moments of silence, focusing on the breath, and allowing ourselves to
- [Rejoice in Love](https://colettelafia.com/rejoice-in-love/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Rejoice in Love Recently, I experienced a very big disappointment, a project I had been working on for many months didn't materialize the way I had hoped. Being disappointed, and even discouraged, is an experience we all share. As hard as it is, it can be a time of discernment. I return to the
- [What is Important to You?](https://colettelafia.com/what-is-important-to-you/) - Have you ever noticed that after you clear clutter, organize your desk, or clean out your closet, you feel a great relief? It’s as though you can see the horizon again, which gives you a sense of spaciousness. But then, gradually, over the weeks, the piles and stacks begin to reappear. Once again, the desk is covered
- [Discover This Season of Renewal](https://colettelafia.com/season-of-renewal/) - As we begin the month of May, I recall the words of wisdom Angeles Arrien wrote in her book, Living in Gratitude. "In May, nature mirrors back to use the increased blossoming and opening that are also occurring in our lives and within our own natures." How can we discover this season of renewal in our lives? Here
- [Fill Your Heart with Light and Love](https://colettelafia.com/fill-heart-light-love/) - This past weekend, I felt a darkness in me, as though I was inside a closet with the door shut. I noticed it. Thoughts about past mistakes, and current money pressures, flooded through my mind. As the days passed, I decided to talk to a trusted person about what was happening within me. Yet, something unexpected happened. As I began to talk, ready to
- [Practicing More Generosity Towards Yourself and Others](https://colettelafia.com/practicing-generosity-towards-others/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Generosity is worth increasing. I really appreciate the intention we bring to the Lenten season to turn in the direction of living a more Spirit centered life. It invites me to be more intentional with my relationship with God, to myself, and with others, at home, at work, and in my community. During the past few weeks
- [How to Welcome Strong Emotions](https://colettelafia.com/dont-hold-back-feel-strong-emotions/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Welcome Strong Emotions. With all the sunshine and warm weather right now in the Bay Area, it's hard to believe that just two weeks ago there was a big storm here, with gusty winds, along with sheets of rain and hail. I remember that weekend quite well, because on Sunday I ended up getting caught in the rain
- [Open Your Heart to Love](https://colettelafia.com/open-heart-love/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Open Your Heart to Love My intention during this holy time is to cultivate a practice of dwelling in love, trusting that love is healing force, trusting in the perspective that love gives me. As my dear friend Brother Rene also told me: "God is love." I offer you this simple but power
- [Listen Deep Within](https://colettelafia.com/listen-deep-within/) - Listening in Your Day Like most of us, by Friday afternoon I am tired, and so are the group of kindergarten students who file into the school library for their afternoon session with me. In the midst of the squirming and fidgeting, there is one little girl in particular, named Tabitha, who always sits in
- [The Healing Presence of Compassion](https://colettelafia.com/healing-presence-compassion/) - Wednesday Wisdom. The Healing Presence of Compassion. For the past few weeks, I have been writing about my journey of healing as I mourn the loss of my mother, and face a new interior and exterior landscape, one without my physical parents. Gazing at my story with compassion has shifted the way I feel and see my
- [The Spirit Offers Healing](https://colettelafia.com/spirit-offers-healing/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Gazing at my life with the Spirit. I continue to open myself to deeper healing within, wanting freedom, wanting integration. As I mourn the loss of my mother, I meet tender wounds that I still carry from a complex childhood. But healing is a process, not something I can rush, or push, or manipulate.
- [The Spirituality of Healing](https://colettelafia.com/loving-shapes-us/) - Loving What Shapes Us: Wednesday Wisdom. Now, close to four months after the death of my mother, a deep inner wound in me has opened up, unexpectedly, over my parents’ neglect and lack of financial support to me during my college years. Their decision created such hardship for me, as I had to work as a live-in nanny
- [How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place](https://colettelafia.com/lovely-dwelling-place/) - For today's Wednesday Wisdom, I am sharing a post from my archives. Wednesday Wisdom. How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! (psalm 84) Last week, I blogged about how one question opens the door to another question. I’m really enjoying allowing my questions to emerge and
- [Self-Care: Inviting the Spirit](https://colettelafia.com/self-care-times-transition-inviting-spirit/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Self-Care in Times of Transition: Inviting the Spirit. Transitions are sacred times, whether they’re times of loss, times of change, or times of uncertainty. The way we take care of ourselves during times of transition makes all the difference. I'm really facing this as I move through the journey of mourning the death of
- [How Self-Care is a Spiritual Practice](https://colettelafia.com/self-care-can-spiritual-practice/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Caring for Ourselves with Comfort & Joy. This past weekend, I gave a retreat for thirty women from St. Gregory's Parish, at the lovely Vallombrosa Center in Menlo Park. The theme was: Caring for Ourselves through Comfort & Joy. We used my book, Comfort & Joy, as the basis for the retreat, and together, we
- [Self Care is About Love](https://colettelafia.com/self-care-love/) - Self Care is about Love: Wednesday Wisdom I continue to reflect upon what is deep and nourishing self-care. I am asking myself, "What does it really mean right now in my life; how can self-care really touch me on a root level?" I tend to have many good habits, and yet, something is missing. I'm not
- [The Sacredness of Self Care](https://colettelafia.com/sacredness-self-care/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Self Care is Sacred. It is a new year, and I am finding it hard to step into it because with each step I am letting go more, as I mourn the loss of my mother, and the loss of having a mother. So what happens, when despite our best intentions to take care
- [What is Stirring in Your Heart?](https://colettelafia.com/what-is-stirring-in-your-heart-2/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Living with Sacred Intention. Our life is a sacred journey, and Christmas once again awakens us to the truth that Divine life lives in us. So now that the festivities are over, such as seeing the Nutcracker ballet, visiting family, and eating holiday meals, we pause for a moment and ask ourselves--what has
- [The Capacity of the Heart](https://colettelafia.com/the-capacity-of-the-heart/) - Wednesday Wisdom. The Capacity of the Heart. I must admit, I really like watching holiday movies. This year, I've watched the 1940 classic, "Shop Around the Corner," and the 1947 version of "Miracle on 34th Street." I saw "The Polar Express," after reading the book to my students, and then the other night we couldn't resist watching, "The
- [Patience is a Practice](https://colettelafia.com/patience-is-a-practice/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Patience is a practice. The theme of patience continues to emerge in the gospel readings during this Advent season. Last Sunday, we heard about the need to be like the farmer who waits "for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and late rains." But
- [The Gift of Patience](https://colettelafia.com/anytime-feel-anxious-something-today-will-smile/) - Wednesday Wisdom: The Gift of Patience. I've heard so many people talk about the need for patience in the last few days that I took it as a sign for what to focus today's blog post on. One person shared with me about feeling hurt from a disagreement with a friend, and how the healing process was asking
- [How Do We Grow In Love?](https://colettelafia.com/growing-in-love/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Growing in Love. Love is powerful, and it is a healing force in our lives. As Saint Theresa of Calcutta teaches us: Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. When my mother was alive and elderly, we would spend
- [Opening the Heart.](https://colettelafia.com/opening-the-heart/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Opening the Heart This past weekend, my husband and I traveled to Palm Springs for my mother's memorial mass. It was a goodbye to so many things--to the house where we shared so many meals, conversations and memories with my mother and father and family for almost thirty years. It was a goodbye
- [Sharing Our Journey of Loss and Love](https://colettelafia.com/sharing-journey-loss-love/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Sharing Our Journey of Loss and Love. This past Sunday, St. Ignatius Parish had a beautiful "Mass of Remembrance." As I entered the church, my heart felt tender. This year, I would be remembering my mother, who had died a few weeks ago. I immediately went to the communal altar, and placed my
- [Sharing our Human Experience](https://colettelafia.com/sharing-human-experience/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Sharing Our Human Experience. I have been sharing the news of my mother's recent death with many people--extended family, friends, colleagues, people at church, as well as my yoga teacher, my spiritual director, and women in the locker room at the pool that I've known for years. There is such a community feeling
- [Living Mercy](https://colettelafia.com/need-mercy-right-now/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Living Mercy. In Hebrew, the word for mercy is hesed, which has many more nuances than it does in English. It can be translated as tender love, loving kindness, steadfast love, and loving compassion. Lately, I've been feeling so much grief over my elderly mother now being in a wheelchair, and moving into assisted living after falling in her
- [The Tender Love of Mercy](https://colettelafia.com/tender-love-mercy/) - Wednesday Wisdom: The Tender Love of Mercy. Can we have mercy for ourselves? I am just not myself these days. I am disoriented, as I try and accept the change that has taken place with my elderly mother, and as a result with my relationship with her. She fell a few weeks ago, had emergency surgery
- [Surrender to Love](https://colettelafia.com/surrender-to-love/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Surrender to Love. Today, I am leading a contemplative day of prayer at the lovely and restful Santa Sabina center in Northern California. My theme is embracing surrender in our hearts and in our lives. I will utilize my book, Seeking Surrender, has the focal point of this retreat. As I was reading through my
- [Finding the Courage in Encouragement](https://colettelafia.com/finding-courage-encouragement/) - O Lord, Come to my Assistance. O Lord, Make Haste to Help Me. Seven times a day the Trappist monks at the Abbey of Gethsemani, and many other monasteries around the world, come together in prayer, and except for the early morning prayer, all the other prayer periods start with this humble call. O Lord, Come
- [Cultivating Expansiveness](https://colettelafia.com/cultivating-expansiveness/) - For the past week I have had the great delight of swimming every day in the Pacific ocean, while I'm here in Hawaii, house sitting for some friends. One day, my husband and I snorkeled around an incredible coral reef, called Two Step, where we saw sea turtles, butterflyfish, and angelfish. As we slowly moved through the water, immersed in
- [Living Into Surrender: The Call](https://colettelafia.com/living-into-surrender-the-call/) - The Call to Surrender: Day I It's a new school year, and as I transition back to work as a part-time school librarian, I find myself filled with resistance for so many reasons. As the door opens to a new school, I want to run the other way--but I can't, mainly for financial reasons, like
- [Pouring Out](https://colettelafia.com/washing-feet/) - Last night as part of the Holy Thursday service, there was the ritual of washing feet. Several wooden chairs were set up around the church, with wash bowls, water jugs, and a pile of towels next to each one of them. I usually never get my feet washed; I usually just watch others. But this year, something
- [Out of the Shadows and Into the Sunlight](https://colettelafia.com/out-of-the-shadows-and-into-the-sunlight/) - Wednesday Wisdom: My husband I were talking this morning about the notion of being true to ourselves, and we both remembered that my father often talked to us about how destructive self-criticism can be. It can prey on us, and move us away from God, filling our hearts and minds with self-doubt. Self-criticism is surely a great
- [Holding on to Trust](https://colettelafia.com/holding-on-to-trust/) - Today as I write this post, my 92-year old mother is facing hip surgery. She fell last week and ended up in the hospital with excruciating pain. The outcome is undetermined: whether she'll make it through the surgery; and if she does, whether the surgery will even be successful. When I spoke to her last night on the
- [Live By a Few Simple Principles](https://colettelafia.com/live-simple-principles/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Live By a Few Simple Principles. I remember what the late Matthew Kelty, a trappist monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani, once said in one of his evening talks while I was on a retreat at the monastery. “Live by a few simple principles.” I have reflected on this many times, and I pause and
- [Believing that Love Heals](https://colettelafia.com/believing-love-heals/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Love Heals. I just spent Labor Day weekend with my 92-year old mother in Palm Springs. Just the two of us. I am grateful that she is relatively well, and still lives in her own home with the daily care of people in the mornings to give her a shower, and help her prepare for the
- [Listen to the Sound of the Bells](https://colettelafia.com/listen-bells-life/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Listen to the Sound of the Bells. I have always been drawn to the sound of church bells, to their ancient sound, to the way their ringing penetrates the air and settles in my heart. When I hear the tolling of these bells, I feel my entire being shaken; and I hear an invitation
- [10 ways to practice surrender today](https://colettelafia.com/10-ways-practice-surrender-today/) - Wednesday Wisdom: 10 Ways to Practice Surrender Today. I am asking for God to teach me to detach from my situation at work—in this case the details don’t really matter. How am I seeking a larger, deeper, and more compassionate way of seeing through every situation? I return to surrender, for the grace to accept the now. I remember that we
- [Love is a constant source of energy](https://colettelafia.com/love-constant-source-energy/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Love is a Source of Energy. What if sharing love wasn't based on how we were feeling, but based on a daily, intentional commitment to love? There are many moments in a day when we just don't feel good for various reasons--fatigue, stress, worry, anger, and more--and in those moments, we tend to constrict
- [Breaking Open](https://colettelafia.com/breaking-open/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Breaking Open. The spiritual life invites us into an intimate way of living. It invites us to ground ourselves in the awareness that God is infinite love, and we are a manifestation of that love. What would your day be like if you really saw yourself and everyone around you as an expression of this outpouring of
- [Dwelling in the Sacred Moment](https://colettelafia.com/dwelling-sacred-moment/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Dwelling. Lately, my focus has been very external, and when that goes on for too long, I begin to long to return home inside of myself, where I can dwell within. Here's a meditation to support you: I arrive in this moment, and I choose to stop and be present. I sit still, my
- [The Great Invitation](https://colettelafia.com/the-great-invitation/) - Wednesday Wisdom: The Great Invitation. Recently, a good friend mentioned a book she was reading about the idea of 'upper limiting.' It is about how we are constantly limiting ourselves. I didn't read the book, but the idea intrigued me, and I began to consider how this notion played out in my daily life, and in my relationship with God,
- [Letting Prayer be Alive](https://colettelafia.com/letting-prayer-alive/) - Wednesday Wisdom. I really enjoy doing spiritual direction, listening and dwelling with others on how the Spirit is moving in their lives. It's a very sacred practice. The theme of prayer often comes us, and this past week it has caused me to reflect on my prayer life. I am inviting myself to pause and reflect
- [Life is a Daily Walk](https://colettelafia.com/life-daily-walk/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Life is a Daily Walk. A few years ago, while I was attending a retreat in Healdsburg, California, I decided to take a hike through the woods nearby the center. As I got deeper into the forest, I began to hear branches creaking and birds rustling in the leaves, along with some other unfamiliar sounds
- [Hearing Sacred Words of Gratitude](https://colettelafia.com/hearing-sacred-words-gratitude/) - For today's Wednesday Wisdom, I'd like to share a sacred practice that I call: Hearing Sacred Words of Gratitude. A few weeks ago, I attended a retreat with Veronica Mary Rolf, author of Julian's Gospel, who invited us to imagine hearing God saying "Thank You," to us. (This was inspired by one of Julian of Norwich's Revelations.) I asked myself:
- [Receiving the Tenderness of Love](https://colettelafia.com/receiving-tenderness-love/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Tenderness of Love. Like most of us, it seems as though I am constantly facing one kind of transition or another. This is our human situation, facing change and transition constantly, in work, in relationships, in our families, and in our bodies. How do we invite and allow ourselves to respond with love when
- [Hearing with Love Changes Everything](https://colettelafia.com/hearing-love-changes-everything/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Hearing with Love. When we really listen, sounds wash over us. Cries and whispers. The wind howling. The slam of a door. Ocean waves crashing onto the beach. In the stretched out sound of silence, a heart beats, salt pours from its shaker, a hand takes another hand into its grasp. Held in
- [The Well of Inspiration](https://colettelafia.com/the-well-of-inspiration/) - Wednesday Wisdom. The Well of Inspiration. This week, I am filling up at the well of inspiration, and I invite you to do the same. I would like to share a few thoughts that are inspiring me right now. As you read them, I invite you to begin to pay closer attention to the sources of inspiration
- [The Heart Has No Borders](https://colettelafia.com/heart-no-borders/) - This past week, I had the honor and joy of facilitating a day of prayer on the theme of seeking surrender with a lovely group at the School of Applied Theology here in the Bay Area. The group was composed of men and women from all over the globe: Africa, Europe, Canada, as well as the east
- [Letting Grace In](https://colettelafia.com/letting-grace-in/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Letting Grace In. This month, I continue exploring the theme of Living Our Graces, inviting us to reflect upon and notice how and where grace is acting in our daily lives. I find that at times marriage is as fragile, as it is strong. Over the weekend, my husband and I spent Sunday afternoon sitting in
- [Noticing Moments of Grace](https://colettelafia.com/notice-moment-living-grace/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Notice a Moment of Living Grace. This month, I continue to focus my blog posts on Living Our Graces--inviting us to take time to notice our own spiritual insights, and acknowledge our personal spiritual wisdom. We all have deep and rich lives, in which God is alive and at work every day--in everyone of us. Pause and
- [Reflection is a Practice](https://colettelafia.com/reflection-is-a-practice/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Reflection is a Practice. This month, I continue with the theme of Living Our Graces. As a spiritual director, I am always seeing the value, and the gift, when people pause and reflect on the presence and action of the Spirit in their lives; when they take time to recognize the graces they are receiving;
- [Living our Graces](https://colettelafia.com/living-graces/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Living our Graces. This month, I will focus on living our graces. It is now the Easter season: a time of wonder, delight and surprise. And I am finding that to fully come into this season, we need to remember and integrate the graces of lent. We tend to go from one thing to
- [The Profound Quiet of Mystery](https://colettelafia.com/profound-quiet-mystery/) - Wednesday Wisdom. The Profound Quiet of Mystery. I continue to allow the theme of quietness to reveal itself to me this month. What I am discovering is that quietness is a way of dwelling in my heart. It is not always being physically quiet, or silent, but it is a way of opening my heart.
- [The Quiet Gift of Comfort](https://colettelafia.com/quiet-gift-comfort/) - Wednesday Wisdom. The Quiet Gift of Comfort. Today, I'm facilitating a "Comfort Circle" with a group at the School of Applied Theology in Berkeley, so I've been steeped in reflecting on comfort as preparation. What is comfort? How do we share it with others? How do we give it to ourselves? At the elementary school where I am the
- [The Quietness of Faith](https://colettelafia.com/the-quiet-heart/) - Wednesday Wisdom. The Quietness of Faith. I continue to explore daily quiet moments, listening for them, noticing them, and discovering them in the midst of my busy days. Lately, I have been praying with icons, inspired by the book: Transformed by God's word: Discovering the Power of Lectio and Visio Divina, by Stephen J. Binz. The icons in
- [Noticing Daily Quiet Moments](https://colettelafia.com/noticing-daily-quiet-moments/) - Wednesday Wisdom. This month, we will explore the theme of quietness. How do we discover quiet in our daily lives; how do we enjoy it; how do we allow it to help us cultivate our interior lives? I began noticing daily quiet moments, as a way to offset the constant feeling of being busy and rushing in
- [Practicing Receptivity](https://colettelafia.com/practicing-receptivity/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Practicing Receptivity in Your Daily Life I continue to explore what it means to practice receptivity in my daily life. The other day, as the kindergarten children were lining up to leave the library, a little boy looked up at me, and said, "Everyone in my family is too busy." His sad eyes
- [Deepening Your Receptivity](https://colettelafia.com/deepening-your-receptivity/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Deepening Your Receptivity. Our interior lives need to be nourished. And as we care for our inner lives, we become more receptive. We learn to dwell more deeply within, and allow ourselves to more fully receive the presence of the Divine, forever unfolding in our life. I share this simple practice to support your inner journey: Come into this
- [Awakening Your Receptive Heart](https://colettelafia.com/the-receptive-heart/) - Wednesday Wisdom: The Receptivity of the Heart. We continue this month exploring and discovering what it means to live with more receptivity to our deepest self, to the Holy One, and to one another. Let us turn towards God, as we begin this season of Lent, not with a laundry list of what we are not, but with
- [Living Life with More Receptivity](https://colettelafia.com/wednesday-wisdom-being-receptivity/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Being Receptivity. Our theme for February will be: receptivity. Being receptive is an art, a practice, and a grace. How can we become more receptive to the Sacred in our lives; to the movement of love in our lives? Often, we spend most of our attention, and energy, responding and reacting to the
- [Exploring the Dimensions of Sacred Listening](https://colettelafia.com/exploring-the-dimensions-of-sacred-listening/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Being Present is a Dimension of Listening This month, I continue to explore the many dimensions of listening as foundational to building a more intimate relationship with the Divine. As spiritual people we are called to listen, and cultivate a listening heart. I will listen to what God the Lord says; he promises peace
- [The Gift of Compassionate Listening](https://colettelafia.com/the-gift-of-compassionate-listening/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Compassionate Listening. As part of my practice as a spiritual director, I engage in compassionate listening and in being a compassionate presence for others. The source of compassionate listening is the fountain of Love, and more and more I am becoming attentive to how much God is a compassionate listener, listening to me with Love. There are so
- [Listening to the Sacred in Your Life](https://colettelafia.com/3055-2/) - Wednesday Wisdom. On New Year’s Day, I sat in front of my fireplace on a rainy Saturday afternoon, writing in my journal. My shoulders were hunched and my mind felt like it was in a washing machine, filled with problems I was facing at work, and pressures of money. I began to cry, and as I poured
- [Gratitude & Hope](https://colettelafia.com/3036-2/) - Thank you, 2015! Welcome, 2016. As we conclude this Thomas Merton centennial year (1915-2015) celebration, I want to express my gratitude for being a part of this special year with the publication of my book, Seeking Surrender: How my Friendship with Trappist Monk Taught me to Trust and Embrace Life. How blessed we have all been to
- [Dwelling in the Mystery](https://colettelafia.com/dwelling-in-the-mystery/) - Wednesday Wisdom. We allow ourselves to dwell, to savor, and to linger in the longing.
- [Let Your Heart Burst Open](https://colettelafia.com/grace-2/) - Wednesday Wisdom. This month, I had the great gift of attending a workshop by David Richo, author of the Power of Grace, and many other books. One takeaway from the workshop for me was the awareness that grace is always boosting our efforts and is always at work. My mother would always say, "God's grace
- [The Spirituality of Nurturing](https://colettelafia.com/2987-2/) - Wednesday Wisdom: Cultivating a Spirituality of Nurturing Although this is a season of joy, this can also be a season of pressure: to get things done before the end of the year, and even to feel a certain way, and to be having a certain kind of holiday experience. I am finding that during this time, it's
- [The Home of Your Heart](https://colettelafia.com/2970-2/) - As we enter into December, we enter into a time of mystery, a time of seeking light in the darkness. It is a time of holy days and holy nights, of anticipation and waiting. And a time to allow love to fill our hearts. As we enter December, let us hear the invitation to listen with
- [Thank You: Day 21](https://colettelafia.com/integration-and-practice/) - As we arrive at the final day of this blog series: 21 Days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart, I want to express my gratitude to you for sharing this journey with me. Thank you! I hope and pray that this series on gratitude has touched you in some way, and that your heart has awakened. I invite you
- [Every Moment is a Given Moment: Day 20](https://colettelafia.com/every-moment-given-moment-day-20/) - Appreciating The Gift of Life: Day 20. --21 Days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart. My husband called me earlier today to share the sad news that a colleague's husband died suddenly last night. When something like this happens to people we know, we share in their sadness, and we also wake up. We become a little more
- [Recognizing Generosity: Day 19](https://colettelafia.com/2906-2/) - Recognizing Generosity: Day 19 –21 Days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart When I started this blog series, I didn't realize I would be touching something with such depth and resonance. I have found that exploring, discovering, grappling with, and deepening gratitude has offered me a more loving, compassionate, and inspired way to be. I am
- [Sharing Gratitude: Day 18](https://colettelafia.com/sharing-gratitude-day-18/) - Sharing Gratitude: Day 18 --21 Days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart As we approach the last few days of this gratitude series, I invite you to reflect on this question: In what ways do you express your gratitude? How do others know that you are grateful? I am noticing a softness descending over me, like
- [Living Gratefully: Day 17](https://colettelafia.com/living-gratefully-day-17/) - Living Gratefully: Day 17. --21 Days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart. This is a season of looking for the bounty and good in our lives, which creates "a disposition for gratitude and allows us to see that some of the challenges we face may be blessings in disguise," as Angeles Arrien writes in Living in
- [Gratitude Offers Acceptance: Day 16](https://colettelafia.com/gratitude-offers-acceptance-day-16/) - Gratitude Offers Acceptance: Day 16. --21 Days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart. Last night, I was filled with tears and so much doubt about many things. I felt lost, and even my desire to be grateful eluded me. With a wad of tissue in one hand and a pen in the other, I sat in my living
- [Gratitude Commitment: Day 15](https://colettelafia.com/gratitude-commitment-day-15/) - Gratitude Integration. --21 Days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart Enjoying the rest of a Sunday, we take time to integrate our gratitude commitment, by pausing and asking ourselves a few powerful questions: What are you thankful for today? In what ways are you shifting your perspective from looking at what is not working to developing
- [Gratitude is Healing: Day 14](https://colettelafia.com/gratitude-is-healing-day-14/) - Gratitude is Healing: Day 14. --21 Days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart Gratitude is healing, and we bring that healing to our world today, as our hearts are disturbed and heavy from recent events . I take courage in the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, who in the face of great loss and tragedy from the Vietnam War,
- [The Energy of Gratitude: Day 13](https://colettelafia.com/the-energy-of-gratitude-day-13/) - The Energy of Gratitude: Day 13. --21 Days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart We all have stubborn places in us; thoughts and feelings that stick to us like gum on the sole of a shoe. Yet the practice of gratitude allows a new energy to stir in us. So for today, I am inviting us to
- [Expressing Gratitude: Day 12](https://colettelafia.com/expressing-gratitude-day-12/) - Expressing Gratitude: Day 12. 21 days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart. As I rode my bike through the park on my way to work, I noticed the beauty of a thousand dew drops creating a blanket of sparkling light on the grass, and I thought that's what gratitude looks like in the world. This morning,
- [Togetherness is the Heart of Gratefulness: Day 11](https://colettelafia.com/togetherness-is-the-heart-of-gratefulness-day-11/) - Together is the Heart of Gratefulness: Day 11. --21 days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart How do we allow our hearts to keep opening? Yesterday, as I sat in front of a group of children many with runny noses and wiggling, I stopped for a moment, and looked more deeply at them. I could see their puppy
- [Inspiring Gratitude: Day 10](https://colettelafia.com/inspiring-gratitude-day-10/) - Inspiring Gratitude: Day 10. —21 Days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart Gratitude is a practice, and when we feel discouraged we turn towards inspiration, asking in prayer for the Spirit to encourage us, so we can be aware of the sacredness of gratitude. Here are a few quotes to keep close to our hearts: To be grateful is
- [Making Room for More Gratitude: Day 9](https://colettelafia.com/making-room-for-more-gratitude-day-9/) - Making Room for More Gratitude: Day 9. --21 days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart As we engage with practicing gratitude in our daily lives, we begin to notice what creates states of ingratitude in us. It's important to notice the thoughts and feelings that block us from deepening gratitude in our hearts, and learn to let them
- [The Grace of Gratitude: Day 8](https://colettelafia.com/the-grace-of-gratitude-day-8/) - Gratitude as a Grace: Day 8. ---21 Days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart I have been pondering the title of Angeles Arrien's book, Living in Surrender, which is the inspiration for these 21 Days of Gratitude. It strikes me that the title uses the word in gratitude, and not with gratitude. When we live in
- [The Gratitude Habit: Day 7](https://colettelafia.com/habit-of-the-heart-day-7/) - The Gratitude Habit: Day 7. --21 days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart The writer Alexis de Tocqueville once describe gratitude as "a habit of the heart." Can gratitude become a habit? We have so many daily habits, we can't even name all of them, but we know when we are practicing good ones because they make us
- [Choose to be Grateful: Day 6](https://colettelafia.com/choose-to-be-grateful-day-6/) - Choose to be Grateful: Day 6. 21 days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart In her introduction to Living in Gratitude, Angeles Arrien reminds us that "Gratitude is a feeling that spontaneously emerges from within. However, it is not simply an emotional response: it is also a choice we make. We can choose to be grateful,
- [Grateful Attitude: Day 5](https://colettelafia.com/grateful-attitude-day-5/) - Cultivating a Grateful Attitude: Day 5. ---21 Days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart List your blessings and you will walk through those gates of thanksgiving and into the fields of joy--Garrison Keillor Autumn is a time of harvest, a time to recognize and appreciate what has come to fruition in our lives during the year
- [Breath of Thanks: Day 4](https://colettelafia.com/breath-of-thanks-day-4/) - Breath of Thanks: Day 4. --21 Days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart. I can sense a slight shift in me as I commit to a conscious gratitude practice. What are you noticing in yourself? Yet to be honest, I am also noticing my resistance, which is part of the journey. I am enjoying Angeles Arrien’s book, Living in Gratitude,
- [The Gift of a New Day: Day 2](https://colettelafia.com/day-2-the-gift-of-a-new-day/) - Day 2: The Gift of a New Day --- 21 days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart. I woke up this morning filled with tension about going to work at the school library, because on Monday and Tuesday it's a tiring situation, with an overburdened schedule. I picked up this poem below, and in my prayer time
- [Grateful Seeing: Day 3](https://colettelafia.com/grateful-seeing-day-3/) - Grateful Seeing, Day 3: --21 days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart. “We each have the ability to shift our awareness to one of grateful seeing—noticing first what is working in our lives before dwelling on what we lack or desire but have not yet attained, or on our challenges or burdens," states Angeles Arrien in her
- [21 days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart](https://colettelafia.com/21-days-of-gratitude-awakening-the-heart/) - 21 days of Gratitude: Awakening the Heart. We begin this month of November remembering our ancestors and those that have touched our lives with All Souls’ Day. I attended a beautiful Mass at Saint Ignatius Church, here in San Francisco, with over 100 musicians and singers performing Mozart's Requiem. One special person I’d like to acknowledge is Angeles
- [As the Heart Awakens](https://colettelafia.com/as-the-heart-awakens/) - Wednesday Wisdom. This past weekend, I attended a three-day retreat led by James Finely, author, retreat leader, and master of the Contemplative Way. His generous presence and teaching was a great gift to all of us. One of the things James spoke about was the importance of paying attention to when we are taken into the heart of
- [A Helping Hand](https://colettelafia.com/a-helping-hand/) - God is holding everything with me. I hear these words while I am awake during the night. They remind of the words of the sixteenth century mystic Teresa of Avila: Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing upset you. Everything changes. God alone is unchanging. With patience all things are possible. Whoever has God lacks nothing. God
- [Looking at Our Attachments](https://colettelafia.com/looking-at-our-attachments/) - Yesterday, I spent the afternoon with a good friend, and we ended up going for a walk at Land's End, where we walked a labyrinth built with stones and rocks, perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. The winding path was narrow and rocky at points so we really had to be
- [Seeking Peace: a sacred practice](https://colettelafia.com/seeking-peace-a-sacred-practice/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Seeking Peace Sometimes we find ourselves holding on to something we know we need to let go of. And sometimes, we find that even though we have done a lot of healing around something, there is still more to let go, forgive, and release. How do we seek peace at times when we
- [Choosing the Path of Compassion Today](https://colettelafia.com/choosing-the-path-of-compassion-today/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Yesterday, at a meeting with my colleagues who are also school librarians (one of the many hats I am wearing these days), I listened to the stresses and strains of all of us who work in public education, and realized that the only real response was compassion. It has been extremely frustrating for all of us to
- [Allowing Generosity to Fill You](https://colettelafia.com/2720-2/) - Wednesday Wisdom. Lately the word generosity is emerging as a theme for me. I am seeking to integrate my job as a busy part-time school librarian, with my spiritual work and writing, which I also feel called to do. Truthfully, I haven’t found a groove, yet, but I am committed to not create division in myself.
- [Surrender is a Conversation with Life](https://colettelafia.com/surrender-is-a-conversation-with-life/) - Wednesday Wisdom. In the past week, I held a book club discussion on Seeking Surrender, and I also held a contemplative prayer evening on the journey of surrender. Every time I share my book, I discover something more about what surrender means to and for other people. Last night, in the book club, someone shared about an
- [Surrendering is a Relationship to Your Life](https://colettelafia.com/surrendering-is-a-relationship-to-your-life/) - I am a firm believer that everything is really a relationship: how we relate to our lives; our bodies; our God; our partners; our work; our money--and more and more. Everything! So how do we continue to create and nurture a surrendering relationship to our lives? This question is my daily prayer. And in the heart of that question,
- [What the Night Sky Teaches Us](https://colettelafia.com/what-nature-teaches-us/) - While I was in Hawaii, I had the delight and joy of visiting the Mauna Kea Visitor's Center, which is over 9,000 feet above sea level. We saw an amazing display of stars, as well as the planet Saturn and its rings. Spending an evening there was such an expansive experience. It is truly a sacred place. I wanted to
- [Waters of Trust](https://colettelafia.com/waters-of-trust/) - Blessed is the person who trust in the Lord, Whose hope is the Lord, She is like a tree planted beside the waters that stretches out its roots to the stream; It fears not the heat when it comes, its leaves stay green... --Jeremiah 17:7-8 I share this passage with you because it deeply resonated with me
- [How Lovely is Your Dwelling Place](https://colettelafia.com/how-lovely-is-your-dwelling-place/) - Wednesday Wisdom. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! (psalm 84) Last week, I blogged about how one question opens the door to another question. I’m really enjoying allowing my questions to emerge and guide me. My question last week was: How am I living the path of compassionate love? And it
- [How to Surrender to the Questions of Your Life?](https://colettelafia.com/how-to-surrender-to-the-questions-of-your-life/) - Wednesday Wisdom In my recent email letter, I shared that my summer question is: How am I letting my relationship with the Divine change or shape me? Since I articulated this question, it has been rolling around in my mouth like a sweet peppermint candy. I feel like a kid who is trying to see how long she can
- [Saying Yes to Our Desires](https://colettelafia.com/saying-yes-to-our-desires/) - Wednesday Wisdom “If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything.” –Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is Every Step Permission doesn’t sound like a very spiritual word, but I’ve come to realize it’s what allows us to say YES. We can give ourselves permission to listen to our desires, to fulfill
- [We are Seekers: Spiritual Direction](https://colettelafia.com/we-are-seekers-spiritual-direction/) - We are seekers, and spiritual direction is a perfect way to explore the journey. Our lives are sacred, and most importantly our stories are sacred. In many ways, our lives are sacred scripture, and it is in our lives that God is present and at work. In spiritual direction, we slow down, and listen to our
- [Loving Yourself: Living Surrender #7](https://colettelafia.com/loving-yourself-living-surrender-7/) - In surrender, we stop wanting our lives to be something other than they are and recognize more clearly the sacredness of what’s right in front of us. Right now, I am meeting myself here, with the call to enter more deeply into myself, into my life, and into Divine love. So I offer this sacred
- [Listening to Your Deepest Self in Spiritual Direction](https://colettelafia.com/listening-to-your-deepest-self-in-spiritual-direction/) - Since my publisher is currently running a contest to win free spiritual direction with me, I wanted to write a few blog posts about spiritual direction. This first one is about my experience. Below is an excerpt from my book, Seeking Surrender, on my personal journey in spiritual direction. I have been in spiritual direction for over a decade, as well as
- [Can I Trust? Living Surrender #6](https://colettelafia.com/can-i-trust-living-surrender-6/) - The essence of surrender is trust, but it can be difficult to find at times. It requires us to yield, and let the Divine carry us, which can feel like the greatest effort. I'm watching how much fear is bubbling up for me right now as I am making a significant transition in my work
- [What is Stirring in Your Heart?](https://colettelafia.com/what-is-stirring-in-your-heart/) - Last week, over forty women gathered at Mercy Center, on a foggy Friday, for a Women In Transition day retreat. Together, we engaged in reading poetry, making art, and contemplative sharing. We also enjoyed tea and fresh scones together. I had the privilege of guiding the group in making clay sculptures as a way to reflect
- [Allowing Life to Unfold: Living Surrender #5](https://colettelafia.com/allowing-life-to-unfold-living-surrender-5/) - This week, I wanted to share a beautiful response I received recently after I did a book reading and talk at the beautiful Santa Sabina Center. Sharing my book continues to be a journey of surrender and surrendering into the presence of others, allowing the book to live. Colette, I look forward to having your
- [Finding Trust During Change: Living Surrender #4](https://colettelafia.com/how-to-find-more-trust-during-change-living-surrender-4/) - This post is part of a "Living Surrender" series I am writing as a way to live into my new book, Seeking Surrender, with my readers. Surrender happens in our daily life, the one we are actually living. It’s not a spiritual ideal for saints and holy people, but rather a living and dynamic force that
- [Feeling Lighter: Living Surrender #3](https://colettelafia.com/feeling-lighter-living-surrender-3/) - Recognize the call to surrender everywhere: in your daily relationships, in how you handle your limitations, in your work challenges, in the ways you care for your family, and even in the simplest of things, like how you step into a cool swimming pool and plunge into the water. The other day, as I was
- [Writing as a Healing Process](https://colettelafia.com/writing-as-a-healing-process/) - The other day, I came across my notebook from the first time I was at the Abbey of Gethsemani in 2003 when I met Brother Rene. In this quick watercolor, I wrote: Can I stop chasing God? Faith. I realize that something in me was already sensing that my orientation to myself, my life, and to God
- [Stay Connected to Yourself: Living Surrender #2](https://colettelafia.com/stay-connected-to-yourself-living-surrender-2/) - Our everyday encounters create the platform for surrender. Throughout the day, we can bring the qualities of surrender—trust, acceptance, compassion, and release—into the way we respond to life. It’s our relationship to what’s happening that forms the cornerstone of our experiences. I offer you this sacred practice today as a way to live surrender, by
- [The Grace and Practice of Surrender: Living Surrender #1](https://colettelafia.com/the-grace-and-practice-of-surrender-living-surrender-1/) - I am starting a new Wednesday Wisdom series called "Living Surrender." I hope many of you are reading my new book Seeking Surrender, and as we read it together I'd like to write and think about living surrender. When we hear the word surrender, it sounds both exhilarating and terrifying. Even though I have written
- [Surrender into Offering Your Gifts](https://colettelafia.com/offering-your-gifts/) - Last week, I went to the Anne Lamott reading at Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, which is an extraordinary place, lots of amazing work being done there and such a beautiful building! A highlight of the evening turned out to be when the choir led the crowd of adults in singing "This Little Light
- [In the Passage](https://colettelafia.com/in-the-passage/) - In her incredibly insightful book, The Sacred Place of Prayer. Jean Marie Dwyer writes, “A passage from fear is always a movement into trust." (pg. 101) Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night with the pressing thought, I am going to die one day. I had a strong sense of fear, as I
- [Let Love be the Lens: Life Lessons from a Trappist Monk #1](https://colettelafia.com/wednesday-wisdom-1/) - In this series of blog posts, Life lessons from a Trappist Monk, I share the wisdom of my late friend Brother Rene, who was a monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani for over fifty years. For many years we corresponded by letter, and here I share excerpts from his letters. "Do not give up hope.
- [God is a Relationship: Life Lessons from a Trappist Monk #2](https://colettelafia.com/wednesday-wisdom-2-life-lessons-from-a-trappist-monk/) - In this series of blog posts, Life lessons from a Trappist Monk, I share the wisdom of my late friend Brother Rene, who was a monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani for over fifty years. For many years we corresponded by letter, and here I share excerpts from his letters. Keep your trust in God.
- [When to Stop and Pay Attention](https://colettelafia.com/how-to-trust-your-life-more/) - Just yesterday, while I was in the Safeway store looking at laundry soap, I had a sweet rush of spiritual tears come over me. As my hand was reaching for the white plastic container, I was overcome with the presence of God’s love in that moment, in the harshly lit supermarket aisle. It’s in those
- [Trust Your Life More: Life Lessons from a Trappist Monk #5](https://colettelafia.com/god-cannot-fail-you-life-lessons-from-a-trappist-monk-5/) - In this series of blog posts, Life lessons from a Trappist Monk, I share the wisdom of my late friend Brother Rene, who was a monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani for over fifty years. For many years we corresponded by letter, and here I share excerpts from his letters. God will not fail you
- [Seek the Power of Love: Life Lessons from a Trappist Monk #4](https://colettelafia.com/wednesday-wisdom-4-life-lessons-from-a-trappist-monk/) - In this series of blog posts, Life lessons from a Trappist Monk, I share the wisdom of my late friend Brother Rene, who was a monk at the Abbey of Gethsemani for over fifty years. For many years we corresponded by letter, and here I share excerpts from his letters. How blind and small one
- [Here I am](https://colettelafia.com/here-i-am/) - When I spent a weekend recently at Bishop's Ranch, in Northern California, at an Advent retreat, I decided one misty morning to take a hike in the country surrounding the property. It had been raining for several days so the soil was soggy as I trudged up the pathway, each step dipping into the moist ground.
- [A Beautiful Mess](https://colettelafia.com/a-beautiful-mess/) - I was so full of anticipation for Christmas day, like a child really, waiting with joy and enthusiasm for the day to arrive. But the night before Christmas ended up being a restless night for me, and I didn't sleep well. Since the vicissitudes of sleep is part of my landscape, I am no stranger
- [Learning to Pray in my Car](https://colettelafia.com/learning-to-pray-in-my-car/) - If I had my dream life, I would always have ample time in the morning to meditate and pray. Yet, on some mornings, I only have time to write in my journal while drinking my morning cup of tea. After that, I am busy preparing for the day, packing lunch for myself and my husband, and getting to
- [Living Prayer](https://colettelafia.com/living-prayer/) - It's a stormy day here in San Francisco, with lots of rain. I head home from the pool on the local bus. The large windows are steamed up and everyone looks soggy, with wet raincoats and dripping umbrellas. I step on the bus, with only one thing on my mind: how fast can I get
- [Observing myself](https://colettelafia.com/observing-myself/) - I have been feeling stuck somewhere in myself. And I want to unpack this stuckness, if that's even a word. Oh, there are so many reasons, and I know it comes from self judgment, and exhaustion, and a fear of moving on without a cast around my heart. One of my biggest culprits is comparison.
- [Making a shift in habits](https://colettelafia.com/saying-goodbye-to-self-criticism/) - The antidote for self-criticism is self appreciation. I used to believe it was self acceptance, yet sometimes acceptance can feel too much like resignation. Self appreciation on the other hand allows us to recognize what we value about ourselves. There are times when I feel self criticism is beating down on me like the hot
- [Seeing life with open eyes](https://colettelafia.com/seeing-the-glass-as-half-full/) - I am being watchful of the mindset that drains me (self critical, unfulfilled, restless). It's a familiar story and I easily fall into it, if I'm not alert. I know the story, and what is behind it, so there is no longer a need to analyze it. So rather than focusing on it, I need
- [Everything's a practice](https://colettelafia.com/everythings-a-practice/) - I am noticing the tiny moments that call for practice. Yesterday, I was tired and hoping my husband would meet me at the gym so we could go grocery shopping and head home after our busy days at work. But at 5:45 I get a text: could you pick me up. I looked at the
- [House of Love, House of Fear](https://colettelafia.com/house-of-love-house-of-fear/) - The days roll in and out, and time is like the ocean. But when fear overtakes me, I see myself as separate from the flow of life. There are so many reasons for fear, and each one of us must observe and learn how and when fear seeps in. I was reading in a book
- [Can buying potatoes be a Holy Moment?](https://colettelafia.com/can-buying-potoates-be-a-holy-moment/) - The other day, it was my morning off work, and I just wanted to stay home and be more contemplative--slow down, and have time to mediate in a more leisurely way. But that didn't happen. When I took my husband to the bus stop, there was no bus in sight, so I agreed to drive
- [Finding the small spaces inside](https://colettelafia.com/finding-the-small-spaces-inside/) - It's 11 a.m. and like most of us the morning has been busy -- getting up, packing lunches, driving to work, and responding to all the demands that have come my way in the school library. But I am ready to burst. I need a minute to detach and find the small space inside of
- [Breaking out of Either/Or living](https://colettelafia.com/spaciousness-is-not-a-luxury/) - Have you ever wanted more spaciousness in your day, but your days are full of responsibilities that you can't ignore. Well, for almost a year now, I have been keeping a morning journal in which I draw and write. Some days, it's a few scratch marks, along with a simple sentence, while other days I
- [Look at the Shadows](https://colettelafia.com/look-at-the-shadows/) - The other day I was walking up the hill from my house, on my way to the park, when I saw an elderly woman standing on the corner taking a photograph. I looked around and really couldn't guess what she was taking pictures of. As I passed her, she said, "I love taking pictures of
- [Living in creation](https://colettelafia.com/living-in-creation/) - I am sensing a shift, lately, in my orientation. As I ride my bike through a trail of cypress trees, and arrive at the coastline, the air, the ocean, my breath is telling me that I am IN something. I am IN creation. For a long time, my concentration has been on the breath of
- [Expanding ](https://colettelafia.com/expanding-ourselves/) - At what point can I allow my spiritual life to become completely honest. Do I allow all of myself to enter into the dynamic of the interior landscape? I find that my spiritual self includes the parts of me that like silence, that like the sunset, that like eating smelly cheese and drinking crisp wine,
- [Generosity](https://colettelafia.com/generosity-3/) - I am always inspired by people who just seem to be generous by nature. They have a generous spirit. There's a woman by the name of Kathy where I work who is always doing extra things for people. She'll update the bulletin boards outside the cafeteria or give everyone a chocolate heart for Valentine's day.
- [Along the way](https://colettelafia.com/along-the-way/) - "Knowing when to wait is as integral to the dream as knowing when to act," Tessa Bielecki writes in her book on Teresa of Avila (Crossroad, 1994). I was struck with that line this morning as I am moving into unknown terrain as I try to move in a new direction with my livelihood. I
- [Inspired morning](https://colettelafia.com/inspired-morning/) - In those first few moments of the day, let us remind ourselves to seek inspiration. The alarm rings, I know I have to pack the lunches, get breakfast, dress and be on the road in a timely manner. While I sit for a few moments with my breakfast tea, I pick up Living Gratitude by
- [Inspired chores](https://colettelafia.com/inspired-chores/) - Well, this morning, I woke up to a host of chores that needed to get done. As I began cutting the carrots for the beef stew I was making, I thought about the philosophy of "finding God in all things." Since I have been reflecting on living an inspired life, I invited myself to bring
- [The core conversation](https://colettelafia.com/the-core-conversation/) - WRITING is a way to discover and hear the spiritual converssation of your life. Journal writing is a way to engage in a dialogue with yourself and the Spirit. For the last 20 years of my life, the core conversation I have been having with myself and my life is all about how to have
- [Sometimes, we just have to STOP](https://colettelafia.com/sometimes-we-just-have-to-stop/) - Well, a storm hit me and I found myself overwhelmed. It was triggered by a difficult night's sleep and my anxiety over money. My mind and body were moving like ping pong balls. I knew I needed to STOP. Put the brakes on. Physically stop moving. So after hours of scattered thoughts and feelings, I
- [Staying in the light](https://colettelafia.com/staying-in-the-light/) - As I try to get the courage to come forward and continue on my creative spiritual journey, I face doubt, a doubt that can keep me stuck. I notice such a judgmental and critical voice in myself, but I now know that this voice is an old ingrained habit, and not the truth. In his
- [Generosity](https://colettelafia.com/generosity-2/) - What can I do today that can be generous? Can I be generous to others, to myself, giving time, resources, patience, understanding? I don't come from a generous family, and I am aware of the need to break the negative family pattern. My parents were not generous with their children, and in turn my siblings
- [Softness](https://colettelafia.com/softness-2/) - Who can speak of love without pain? In the heart, there lives the hope that pain can be transformed. = Love becomes more generous and full, like a ripe summer fig, bursting out of its purple skin. = The stars quiver against an expansive sky full of the beauty only darkness can reveal. Can you
- [The dahlias are magical](https://colettelafia.com/the-dahlias-are-magical/) - After a draining day at work, I came home in the late afternoon and had to make a snap decision. Would I circle around the thought, "I am so tired from my day," or would I quickly change into my bike clothes and head out for a ride through the park. I was pulled into
- [The gratefulness conference](https://colettelafia.com/the-gratefulness-conference/) - The Gratefulness conference held last Saturday at the Palace of Legion of Honor was SO inspiring. I recommend everyone to visit gratefulness.org and sign up immediately to become an active part of the gratitude movement. From listening to the various speakers, I came to realize that gratefulness is a very full and deep practice that
- [The body is made for love](https://colettelafia.com/the-body-is-made-for-love/) - Last night, when I was resting in the middle of the night, I felt my body's desire to feel love in it. Deep love. Total acceptance. My habit is to get frustrated since I want to be asleep, but if I listen to my body it is asking me for love. So lately I have
- [Self responsibility](https://colettelafia.com/self-responsibility/) - The other day I was having lunch with a good friend, someone I have known for almost three decades of my life. As we were munching on our fresh salads, we were talking about our lives. I have been noticing a constant wave of dissatisfaction in my daily life. In part, this comes from fatigue
- [Reflection](https://colettelafia.com/reflection/) - Sixteen years ago today my older sister died of breast cancer. She was in her late 30's and I was in my mid 30's. I've spent the last sixteen years trying to find a way to cope with the tragedy of the experience. It really broke my heart and the experience and loss of her
- [The compassionate response](https://colettelafia.com/the-compassionate-response/) - I had a choppy night, awake on and off all night. As I face a long day at work, do I respond with anger or with compassion? The definition of compassion is: a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.
- [Giving and receiving acceptance](https://colettelafia.com/giving-and-receiving-acceptance/) - Two weeks ago, I developed some sensitivity in my wrist and thumb joints. So along with my continual toe joint flare up, I am now handling wrist and hand restrictions. So today, when I went to yoga, and the instructor was leading the students in sun salutations, and I was trying to modify the poses,
- [Being spontaneous](https://colettelafia.com/being-generous/) - The other day at the elementary school library where I work, a note appeared on my desk, written by a six-year-old girl. It read: Dear Mrs. Lafia, thanks for being a great helper. The note was written in marker, and below the sentence was an illustration showing one big person and one little person, which
- [After the flood](https://colettelafia.com/after-the-flood/) - After an emotional flood (this time from family events beyond my control), I need to come back into myself. I must find some stability within myself, which I know is there. How do I come back into myself? First, by realizing that spinning outside of myself only creates a web for something else to get
- [Returning to trust, again and again](https://colettelafia.com/returning-to-trust-again-and-again/) - Emotions can be complex and hit us strongly at times. But as the strong winds of an emotion overcomes us like a powerful storm, what keeps us anchored? Yesterday at work a young teacher told me she was pregnant. In the moment, I shared her joy, but later in the day, maybe because I was
- [What does it really mean: attitude is everything?](https://colettelafia.com/what-does-it-really-mean-attitude-is-everything/) - Recently my elderly mother, who is going through many health concerns, said to me, "Our attitude is everything." She has said this to me many times and usually I just complacently agree, but this time I paused and asked myself: what is attitude? And really, why is it so important. Right now I notice that
- [Year-end reflections](https://colettelafia.com/year-end-reflections-2/) - As the Christmas lights and ornaments come off the tree, and I clean out the hallway closet (finally), a tone of reflection fills the air. Over the past few days, I have been perusing my journals and notebooks from this year, reflecting on what were my greatest satisfactions, my most pressing difficulties, and my largest
- [Truly receiving gifts](https://colettelafia.com/waking-up/) - Can gratitude become the foundation of my life? Recently my brother was in town during the Thanksgiving holiday. He is a good guy and I am glad we could spend time together. But after he left, the old demon of comparison had me in its grip. My brother was fortunate enough to make enough money
- [Breaking a cycle](https://colettelafia.com/breaking-a-cycle/) - In the last 24 hours, my emotions had become heightened and were spinning out of control. I am feeling anxiety over my mother's health decline and the uncertainty of her well being. So I know deep inside I am worried and even fearful. Now, I am a firm believer that it's important to feel my
- [Meeting "what is"](https://colettelafia.com/meeting-what-is/) - On my first day of being 50, it turns out my 87-year old mother is admitted to the hospital. We had just spent a weekend celebrating my birthday, with my sisters and my mother, sharing in delicious meals, laughing together, and going through the usual ups and downs, and joys and tensions, of being a
- [The cycle of life](https://colettelafia.com/the-cycle-of-life/) - There really is a cycle of life. I just turned fifty and I am meeting creation -- and it has its own terms. So how do we encounter this meeting of time and nature? I move between openness and anxiety. I think the more I can cultivate the openness to receive the mystery of life,
- [Flowing through us](https://colettelafia.com/flowing-through-us/) - Great is the overflow of Divine Love which is never still but ever ceaselessly and tirelessly pours forth, so that our little vessel is filled to the brim and overflows. If we do not choke the channel with self-will, Divine gifts continue to flow and over flow. --Mechthild of Magdeburg. 13th century, German mystic and
- [Patience](https://colettelafia.com/patience-4/) - Once again, I am ending the day with my feet in a bucket of cold, icy water, trying to tame the inflammation in my toes. I noticed the week had both good days with my toes and difficult days with my toes. I think when I put expectations on my body, I crash, because I
- [Inner resources](https://colettelafia.com/inner-resources/) - Now that I am almost fifty, I'm beginning to remember more things that my parents told me when they were in their middle years. Or should I say, I am beginning to understand more what some of the things they said actually mean. My father was always one to say how important it was to
- [Holding it All](https://colettelafia.com/holding-it-all/) - Recently I was at a workshop and the presenter showed up five minutes late. She had been at her child's school dropping off a platter of warm cookies for a school event. She breezed in, had us take our seats and do a writing exercise while she finished getting herself settled for the morning session.
- [Looking within](https://colettelafia.com/looking-within/) - Today, a teacher walked into the library and asked me how my foot was. I shared with her how discouraged I was that it was only incrementally better after a month of wearing the orthopedic boot. We continued talking and she began to share how overwhelmed she was with the never-ending demands at school. She
- [Love it out](https://colettelafia.com/love-it-out/) - I have been feeling discouraged because my toe pain is still quite persistent, even after three weeks of using a walking boot and crutches. And just this morning, as I slipped out of bed and put on my orthopedic walking boot, I thought to myself: Well, I just have to tough it out. Yet somehow
- [Be an instrument ](https://colettelafia.com/being-an-instrument-of-peace/) - This morning, I read again the prayer by the 12th century saint, St. Francis of Assisi: Lord Make me an Instrument of your peace. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; when there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope;
- [In the direction of light](https://colettelafia.com/333/) - I move between the darkness and the light, between the shadows, gray fog and translucent blue sky. It's dynamic. And yet I am sensing that there is more light available to me, and that even in darkness there are rays of light. We often think of light as something that helps us see-- a reading
- [Love really is something ](https://colettelafia.com/love-really-is-something/) - After being awake in the middle of the night for a few hours, I was losing my patience. I got out of bed, had a light snack, and when I headed back to bed, my husband gave me a comforting hug and held me for a while. It was amazing how love felt so healing
- [On our path](https://colettelafia.com/on-our-path/) - Can we actually trust that we are never off our path? Even when things don't seem to be going well. A friend shared with me a quote she found from a writer in the 1800's. It said something to the effect that 'at every moment you are always on your path.' I was struck. You
- [Remembering what's important](https://colettelafia.com/releasing-into-what-is/) - I came across this saying, which really struck me: When you're overloaded, fight the urge to work harder. Instead, slow down and reflect on what matters most. I have been so overwhelmed these past weeks, with the amount of work at my school. I am the school librarian, and additional duties have been added to
- [Shelter from the storm](https://colettelafia.com/messy-mindfulness/) - It's so easy to start spinning and spill over, and feel like I am just chasing myself and my life. How can I turn that around? Now is the time for me to be diligent about practicing my meditation regularly, taking deep calming breaths throughout the day, staying committed to my daily exercise, and mindfully
- [Can I find peace?](https://colettelafia.com/can-i-find-peace/) - I think my life has been waiting for me to make peace with it for a long time now. I think a part of me was waiting for things to change, and then I would make peace with it. But my hair is now officially more gray than black, so the time has arrived. This
- [The spirit of enjoyment](https://colettelafia.com/the-spirit-of-enjoyment/) - It's summer and I'm letting myself take in the change of season. I'm a school librarian, so I am on break now. My usual tendency is to 'account' for my time and end a day with a sense of productivity. But something in me is pulling me in another direction. And I'm listening. There is
- [Acceptance](https://colettelafia.com/296/) - t is the acceptance of myself, as I truly am, that will be the doorway to transformation. –– Thomas Merton, American, Trappist Monk, 20th century It's Mother's Day, and for many women this day presents an array of stories and mixed emotions. I had wanted to be mother, but my husband and I could not
- [Honoring my path](https://colettelafia.com/honoring-my-path/) - Yesterday, when I arrived at work, pulling off my bike helmet and getting out my key to open the library, I looked up and there was a face from the past. It was a woman that I have known in the school district for about fifteen years now. We are about the same age. There
- [Acting with trust](https://colettelafia.com/acting-with-trust/) - As I was rushing to clean up in the library and put the remaining books away in order to leave for an afternoon appointment, one of the parents came in to chat. It was a mother I met a few years ago, when she volunteered in the library. At that time, she was just beginning
- [Allowing](https://colettelafia.com/allowing-2/) - I have been facing so many limitations lately with this tendonitis in my toes. For a while, just walking up and down the stairs to the front door of my house was extremely painful. I was frustrated, but then I began to notice how the limitations were also creating new possibilities. By not rushing around,
- [Receiving love in the body](https://colettelafia.com/receiving-love-in-the-body/) - This week I have faced many frustrating moments with my body. When I went to the doctor about my shoulder tendonitis, which I thought was improving with physical therapy, I mentioned to him that I was hearing a clicking when I moved my arm a certain way. He proceeded to say that I most likely
- [The need to be gentle](https://colettelafia.com/the-need-to-be-gentle/) - Right now I am being called to be gentle with myself. I am confronting physical discomfort with a flare up of tendonitis in my two big toes. Even walking down the street takes tremendous presence of mind and patience as each step has a feeling of "ouch" to it. I saw a doctor and I
- [Patience](https://colettelafia.com/patience-3/) - I could make a laundry list of all the physical, financial, and emotional circumstances that are demanding my patience. But rather than write about them, I would like to write about patience. What does patience look like? It's nice. It doesn't lose its temper. For instance, this morning I was rushing (of course), and it
- [Always surrendering](https://colettelafia.com/always-surrendering/) - Surrendering is a daily practice. Over the holidays, I had the joy of spending time with family. I stayed with my sister in Los Angeles, who has two children after a long and difficult road of conceiving. My husband and I were unable to have children, and being with my sister and watching her experience
- [Following my star](https://colettelafia.com/following-my-star/) - It's Christmas morning. I am sitting in my living room, with a fire crackling, the Christmas lights on the tree twinkling. It is dawn, and once again I was up too early. Yesterday, a friend and I were talking about the new year and the intentions we would like to set. There is tremendous power
- [Joy](https://colettelafia.com/joy-2/) - As we say goodbye to Thanksgiving, and approach the December holidays, let's remember to bring thankfulness and gratitude forward. Gratitude is the perfect practice to continue every day. I am continuing my gratitude journal. It only takes a few minutes at the end of my day. I found myself getting anxious today about the new
- [Gratitude Journal, Day 8](https://colettelafia.com/gratitude-journal-day-8/) - Sometimes negative thoughts just creep in, doubt finds a way into my mind, and my thankfulness is challenged. During the day, I had the attack of the 'negatives' as I call them. And I had to fight hard not to let them overtake me. I had to make a decision that my peace was important
- [Gratitude Journal, Day 7](https://colettelafia.com/gratitude-journal-day-7/) - While reflecting in the morning, I realized once again that everything is a gift. The water we use every day is a gift; the food we eat every day is a gift; the love we receive is a gift. And when we receive a gift, we want to say Thank You. As we walk around
- [Gratitude Journal, Day 6](https://colettelafia.com/gratitude-journal-day-6/) - Well Monday was an extremely busy day, and my neck was so tight! I seemed to rush through class after class at the library. The kids were doing research, which is always hard because they need things off the internet, and our equipment at school is so limited it's frustrating. Still, we made it work,
- [Gratitude Journal, Day 5](https://colettelafia.com/gratitude-journal-day-5/) - On Sunday, I ended up having a lot of housework to do -- cleaning the house, some laundry, and cooking. At some point, I found myself resistant to what I was doing. I just wanted to stop and have some time to rest, and then to write. When I was vacuuming the bedroom rugs, I
- [Gratitude Journal, Day 4](https://colettelafia.com/gratitude-journal-day-4/) - I seem to be in the habit of writing my gratitude journal in the morning for the previous day. This is because I am usually really tired at the end of the day, since I am handling a sleep disorder. Gratitudes for Saturday, November 20 1. Grateful for the energy to go to yoga class.
- [Gratitude Journal, Day 3](https://colettelafia.com/gratitude-journal-day-3/) - On Friday, November 19, I attended a "Day of Gratitude" at Mercy Center in Burlingame, California (www. mercy-center.org). I wasn't sure I was going to make it there, since I was up in the middle of the night again, and couldn't get back to sleep. Still, I persevered. I have learned that it is usually
- [Gratitude Journal, Day 2](https://colettelafia.com/gratitude-journal-day-2/) - It's definitely challenging at times to write my gratitudes at the end of a tough day. I started out the day, tired, from another night of struggling, and up in the middle of the night without getting back to sleep. Still, I am beginning to think there is significant value in finding gratitude in difficult
- [Gratitude Journal](https://colettelafia.com/gratitude-journal/) - For the past year I have kept a daily gratitude journal. It's been an amazing experience, and I particularly like reading back over it. Sometimes when I am feeling blue, I will leaf through the notebook and see all the things I have been grateful for, and other times, I will see patterns and threads
- [breathing room](https://colettelafia.com/breathing-space/) - It is 8:30 in the morning, and I am late again leaving for work. All I want is some breathing room but the minutes are ticking away as I drink my last sips of black tea with milk and then wash the breakfast dishes. I find myself thinking: I just want some breathing room. And
- [Finding my way](https://colettelafia.com/finding-my-way/) - Recently, I went to a meditation retreat, and after a day I wanted to leave. I noticed that with each meditation session, I felt more strained, rather than relaxed, which was the reason I went on the retreat in the first place. I noticed I was getting restless with myself, as I tried to sit
- [The invitation to rest](https://colettelafia.com/the-invitation-to-rest/) - Last week, I took a day off and participated in a workshop entitled: A Day of Rest. The workshop was focused on how we allow ourselves or don't allow ourselves to rest in our lives. The concept of rest was not related to sleep, but rather to a state of being and not doing. It
- [Practicing acceptance](https://colettelafia.com/practicing-acceptance/) - Acceptance is a practice. Yesterday, I left work and I could feel that I was exploding with restlessness and non-acceptance. So many times throughout the day I just wanted to walk up the stairs and out the doors of the school where I work as a school librarian. I like my job, but sometimes, I
- [Accepting what is](https://colettelafia.com/accepting-what-is-2/) - Acceptance --- this is the theme that is emerging for me as the new year begins. There are certain things in my life that just need to be accepted, and not with a sense of defeat or disappointment. Not accepting some major aspects of my life does weigh down my spirit. I can feel it.
- [The power of stopping and sitting still](https://colettelafia.com/the-power-of-stopping-and-sitting-still/) - I woke up this morning thinking about the gratitude workshop I am giving tomorrow. I have had a tremendously busy week at work and I was feeling overloaded. After I dropped my husband at the bus stop, I decided to go home and sit still for awhile, instead of rushing around running errands. I could
- [Cultivating Gratitude](https://colettelafia.com/cultivating-gratitude/) - These days I am returning to the practice of gratitude in a more conscious way. I know I've written about this before, but gratitude is an inexhaustible source of inspiration and comfort. So, I picked up my copy of Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer by Brother David Steindl-Rast, and began reading it again. The first
- [Explaining Spiritual Direction](https://colettelafia.com/explaining-spiritual-direction/) - Several readers have inquired recently about the title of "spiritual director" after my name. My posts mostly reflect my own orientation to finding spirit, or the divine, in everyday life. And that's mostly what I try to do. But spiritual direction is an actual discipline, although not confined to one religion or denomination; but rather
- [The Power of Love](https://colettelafia.com/the-power-of-love/) - The Power of Love My sister died of breast cancer thirteen years ago, leaving a six-year old daughter at the time. After several years, her father remarried and decided to return to his native country. My niece ending up moving away and living abroad since she was nine years old. Over the years, I have
- [Channeling Gentleness](https://colettelafia.com/134/) - This week, I spent time in a kindergarten classroom, helping the teacher get the students into the new routine. It's amazing to be reminded of all the things children need to learn in kindergarten -- waiting one's turn, listening to directions, sharing the building blocks, and so much more. There was one little boy in
- [How our life shapes us](https://colettelafia.com/how-our-life-shapes-us/) - I wander around the Rodin sculpture galleries at the Legion of Honor, which are filled with forms of human bodies, angels, and faces emerging from blocks of marble and bronze. The natural light gives the sculptures a living quality. As I look closely at each piece, I can feel the touch of the artist from
- [Living by a few simple principles](https://colettelafia.com/living-by-a-few-simple-principles/) - After a demanding day, I committed myself to carving out some space and time to stop feeling the pressure of my to-do list. I decided to take a walk, not to "get my exercise in," but simply to walk, breathe in some fresh air, listen to the sounds around, and let my mind wander and
- [Our Spiritual Nature](https://colettelafia.com/our-spiritual-nature/) - We are born with a spiritual nature, and the more we can surrender the urge to know the absolute, the more wonder and mystery can unfold and rise up. Can we allow ourselves to discover our spiritual dimension? The kids at the school where I work love to draw. They are always playing, and exploring
- [The Interior Life](https://colettelafia.com/the-interior-life/) - I awake to a new day, which is full of things to do. However, as I drink my morning tea, still wearing my pajamas, I can also sense my interior self. What is the interior life? At times, it's like water pouring through my cupped hands, and at other times, it's like holding a stone
- [The Power of our words](https://colettelafia.com/the-power-of-our-words/) - Our words are very powerful. What we say to one another can have a deep and profound effect. Working with children, I really notice this. If I support a child's effort in an encouraging way, then the child will feel more inspired to continue trying. My words are like watering seeds in a garden. Kind
- [The Summer Comfort Circle Workshop: Sweet Surrender](https://colettelafia.com/the-summer-comfort-circle-workshop-sweet-surrender/) - Dear Friends, I invite you to participate in my June 13, 2009 workshop. The Summer Comfort Circle Sweet Surrender In this comfort circle, we will explore the purpose and peace that embracing surrender has in our lives. We will engage in the practice of surrender through body relaxation, breath awareness, guided imagery, and contemplative sharing.
- [Accepting What Is](https://colettelafia.com/accepting-what-is/) - Acceptance Can I accept the difficult and demanding situation I have found myself in with this insomnia? I am searching for a sustainable response to this problem, which is proving to take time. There isn't a quick fix here, taking a pill is only a temporary measure. It takes patience to address the root of
- [The Practice of Surrender](https://colettelafia.com/the-practice-of-surrender/) - Five small moments of practicing surrender. 1. If I'm tired, then I'm tired. I don't need to push myself to get everything on my to-do list done. I don't need to pressure myself to feel any different than I feel. I can take it easy during my free time -- walk in the park, take
- [Mothering](https://colettelafia.com/mothering/) - Mothering After my sister died of cancer and I began to suffer with insomnia, I spent more time talking with my mother, either on the telephone or while visiting her in Palm Springs. “You’re going to be just fine. It will pass,” my mother told me time and time again. Just hearing her reassurance gave
- [Keeping Things in Perspective](https://colettelafia.com/keeping-things-in-perspective/) - Now is the time to step back and try to keep things in perspective. Lately, I have found myself looking down at my shoelaces or the strap on my sandal. The other day, I realized that I need to look out into the horizon more, and to remember that the universe is vast, my breath
- [Trust](https://colettelafia.com/trust/) - I am still using the "letting go" box, and every day I am scribbling down things I need to keep letting go of. Today, I was overcome with doubt over the choices I have made around work. I never planned to become an elementary school librarian. I was already in the school system at the
- [More, More Letting Go](https://colettelafia.com/more-more-letting-go/) - I am continuing to use the letting go box. It's amazing how many scraps of paper I scribble on during the day with things to let go of -- the need to please someone, the worry over a decision, the judgment I have on myself for looking tired, and so much more. When the thoughts
- [More Letting Go](https://colettelafia.com/more-letting-go/) - Letting Go -- continued It's been a week now that I have been keeping the "letting go box" I referred to in last week's blog entry. It's proving to be an interesting experience. I am noticing how many little things I hold onto -- little bits of conversation I've had throughout the day, or frustration
- [Letting Go](https://colettelafia.com/letting-go/) - Letting Go We use the phrase letting go all the time. We use it loosely, in passing, as though it is something we can just snap our fingers and do – instantly. But I have found it's not that easy. For the past week, I decided to follow the suggestion of a friend to create
- [Waves of Anger](https://colettelafia.com/waves-of-anger/) - Lately, I have been experiencing waves of anger. I have been hesitant about sharing these emotions out loud, but last night I was talking to a friend at an art opening about it, and my thinking turned around. Comfort and joy has paved a deep groove in my psyche, and now I am living comfort
- [More Comfort & Joy in your relationship](https://colettelafia.com/more-comfort-joy-in-your-relationship/) - Try these five simple tips for bringing more comfort and joy into your relationship: #1: Take a moment to hug: A warm hug is an amazing source of comfort. Practice giving each other a hug when you first wake up in the morning. Hug again before you go to sleep. Make hugging a simple comfort
- [Cycles](https://colettelafia.com/cycles/) - Rain I am crying. I call my friend and we go for a walk. It is a cool and overcast day, so we bundle ourselves in jackets, scarves and hats. Afterward, sitting in my kitchen, we share a pot of tea. I feel the warmth on my fingers as I cradle the mug. It begins
- [Patience](https://colettelafia.com/patience-2/) - My life is asking for so much patience right now, with waves of insomnia, demands of graduate school in library science, and the deep feelings of grief that I still feel from losing my father last spring. Sometimes, I feel I have no more patience left in me. Yet, I know that being patient right
- [Surrendering](https://colettelafia.com/another-person/) - Every day, I meet someone who has something to teach me about surrendering. There is a little girl at my school who moves about with the help of a walker. She is the most determined child, always smiling and saying hello to everyone. She likes to say, Hello, my name is Jasmine, what’s your name?
- [Love](https://colettelafia.com/love-5/) - I was born with a fountain of love inside of me. I buy two vanilla cupcakes, with butter cream frosting. My husband and I will eat them tonight for dessert. At the end of the day, I think it’s okay to want something. Wanting is so beautifully human, and not getting what we want makes
- [Listening](https://colettelafia.com/listening-2/) - Listening When I was interviewed last month, the person interviewing me noticed that in my book Comfort & Joy, I talk about the importance of listening to oneself. He asked me: How do we listen to ourselves? When I wrote Comfort & Joy, I was referring to listening to one's needs. I was talking about
- [Compassion](https://colettelafia.com/compassion/) - Compassion There are times when things get trying, when there is a sense of being off balance. The past few weeks have been like that, and my husband and I have been confronted with the need for patience, faith, and daily discipline. Regardless of how we feel, we must continue with our commitments. It's the
- [Rest](https://colettelafia.com/rest/) - Rest I am always struck by the ending of the creation story in Genesis -- on the seventh day God rested. How can we bring more rest into our lives? How can we take a rest from our worries, our frustrations, our desire for things to be different? Can we look around and find what
- [Year-End Reflections](https://colettelafia.com/year-end-reflections/) - As we end another year, I see the pull to look at the year in terms of accomplishments. Yet so much of what happens to us is beyond that framework. As the calendar year gets ready to turn, I have decided to reflect on ways my "being" has grown and expanded. This year, I had
- [Reassurance ](https://colettelafia.com/reassurance/) - As a human being, I need reassurance. I need to be reminded that love and beauty are stronger than fear and doubt. I have been reading lots of holiday stories to the children in the library, and I am noticing that many of the stories are about bringing light and love into the world. They
- [Rest, Renewal and Relaxation this Holiday Season](https://colettelafia.com/rest-renewal-and-relaxation-this-holiday-season/) - Rest, Renewal and Relaxation I have decided that what I really need this holiday season is to take time to renew myself. It's been a year filled with joys and sorrows, and lots of activity. Like many people, I am feeling a lot of uncertainty around me, too. Therefore, I have decided my holiday intention
- [Contentment with Simple Comforts](https://colettelafia.com/contentment-with-simple-comforts/) - The Art of Contentment Sitting in front of a fire. Baking oatmeal cookies. Taking a walk in the park. Reading a good book. How do we let these simple comforts be enough? It takes practice and patience to develop the art of contentment in the simple things. Often, we become restless and imagine that if
- [Thankful](https://colettelafia.com/thankful/) - The day before Thanksgiving was intense. In between seeing my students in the library, I was finishing a large paper for graduate school that was due in the afternoon. I worked through lunch and after school to complete it. I lost my patience with a first grade boy, who was running around the library. By
- [Small Pauses](https://colettelafia.com/small-pauses/) - The weeks are full, and at times leave me overflowing like too much water filling the bathtub. It's time to pause. Yes, pause. Hard to do when the to-do list is long. Yet, I need to stop doing and reconnect with my being. How can I listen to this desire? First, I acknowledge that I
- [Self Acceptance](https://colettelafia.com/self-acceptance/) - All day thoughts of my father have been drifting in and out of my mind. It's All Soul's Day, in the Catholic Church, and when I went to mass this morning, we prayed for those who had died. My father has only been dead for six months, and I really miss him. How can I
- [Joy](https://colettelafia.com/joy/) - How do I water seeds of joy in my day? This was the question I brought to my day. Throughout the day, I asked myself, how am I bringing joy to myself, to others? I took time to say, "Good Morning," to the people around me. When I was reading to the children in the
- [Bounty](https://colettelafia.com/bounty/) - All week long, I have enjoyed so much comfort and joy from a wooden bowl full of apples, sitting on my kitchen table. Each time I walked past them, the scent of farm-fresh apples wafts by, and my eyes delight in the bounty of these beautiful fruits. A bowl of apples is a simple reminder
- [Lightness](https://colettelafia.com/lightness/) - I am seeking an inward gaze, in the midst of all the noise around me. I open my eyes and the morning light stretches across the window of the bedroom. It is a new day. Yet, I want it to still be night. How can I reconcile my darkness with the light?If I can stand
- [In the gaze of hope](https://colettelafia.com/in-the-gaze-of-hope/) - In the gaze of hope I am gazing at a photograph in a Smithsonian magazine of Annie Mae, a quilter from Gee’s Bend Alabama. The woman in the photograph is now 78, and the moment captures her pulling a threaded needle through a piece of fabric as she is making a quilt. I stare into
- [Remembering](https://colettelafia.com/remembering/) - I am so busy. How many people are also saying this? It is Saturday morning, and I stop and sit in the fabric covered chair in the bedroom. I sit in this chair as a way to be still with myself, with the constant whirling motion inside of me. To be still, to rest, to
- [Stop](https://colettelafia.com/stop/) - Sometimes, there is no getting around needing to stop. It's Thursday afternoon, and I cleared my calendar. I have been responding and giving a lot lately to all that is required of me, and I can feel that I am growing weary. I fight the "shoulds" and the guilt, and I persevere and take some
- [Patience](https://colettelafia.com/patience/) - Practicing patience towards myself changes the tone of a day. When I am patient, I am calmer, and my body and mind feel better. Yet, impatience surges through me at every corner, and it takes my mindful awareness to keep returning to the practice of patience throughout the day. Lately, I have been feeling too
- [Book Reading, Saturday, September 6, 4 pm](https://colettelafia.com/book-reading-saturday-september-6-4-pm/) - Book Reading this Saturday, September 6, 4 pm Come and join me! Book Passage Bookstore in Corta Madera, CA Book reading and signing of Comfort and Joy, Simple Ways to Care for Ourselves and Others. "Illuminating the sources of comfort that are inherent in the simple, everyday rituals of our lives, this new book provides
- [Loving Patience](https://colettelafia.com/loving-patience/) - I just don’t feel like myself these days. I’m off. So many things have happened and are happening, my father’s death four months ago, returning to another school year, the launch and promotion of my book, and changes in my body that have triggered sleeping difficulties. I am needing patience and endurance of biblical proportions!
- [Reading at East West Bookstore!](https://colettelafia.com/reading-at-east-west-bookstore/) - Please join me for a comforting evening at East West Bookstore! I will be reading from my book, Comfort & Joy: Simple Ways to Care for Ourselves and Others and sharing the meditative comfort practices that I developed to heal and nurture myself through a difficult time. I will be sharing how the simple, everyday rituals
- [Caring for Ourselves and Others](https://colettelafia.com/caring-for-ourselves-and-others/) - There is a connection between taking care of ourselves and others. When we look after ourselves, we help ensure that we have the capacity and resources to help others. The caring is intertwined. And now that summer is winding down, vacations are over, and the pace of life is picking up, here are five simple tips
- [Love](https://colettelafia.com/love-4/) - Love The comfort of love fills me, the way sunlight fills the sky. It spills over onto everything, into the ground where we walk, and the air that we breathe. The comfort of love is simple and bold, forever present in our lives. Can you connect to the rich sources of love that are everywhere:
- [Gratitude](https://colettelafia.com/gratitude/) - Gratitude More and more, I notice I am pausing throughout the day, and taking a moment to be grateful. = When I awake in the morning, I pause in gratitude for the gift of a new day. = Before I eat, I stop for a moment, and take a breath, and am grateful for the
- [Giving & Receiving](https://colettelafia.com/giving-receiving/) - Giving and Receiving. How do we keep this exchange alive and active in our lives. I remember the prayer of St. Francis of Assis (13th century) in which he says, "for it is in giving that we receive." I like to add, "it is in receiving that we are giving." A bowl is a wonderful
- [Receptivity](https://colettelafia.com/receptivity/) - This week, demands, deadlines, disappointments have been piling up. I fall off my center. How do I maintain my receptivity to comfort in times like this? How can we all stay receptive to comfort in our lives? Here's a short list of ways to keep the channel of giving and receiving comfort alive in your
- [Generosity](https://colettelafia.com/generosity/) - Lately, I've been noticing how generous comfort is. I can find it in the simplest things, like in the small bouquet of wildflowers I cut from my garden and placed in a white milk jug, which now has a broken handle.I love the brokenness of the jug. It reminds me of change and transformation. We
- [Pause](https://colettelafia.com/pause/) - How do we really honor a pause in our lives? Last week, when I was interviewed on a radio show about my book on comfort, the conversation turned to our need to listen to the pauses in our lives. A pause. A rest. A staycation. What is a staycation? "A vacation that is spent at
- [Allowing](https://colettelafia.com/allowing/) - I opened one of my journals from the period of time I was writing my book, Comfort and Joy, and came across this paragraph that I would like to share: I found the first step in learning to comfort myself was being receptive to what I was going through, not resisting or trying to control
- [Comfort Circle](https://colettelafia.com/comfort-circle/) - I led a comfort circle last week at a women's health conference. I enjoyed hearing the participants share different ideas they had for bringing more comfort into their daily lives, and wanted to pass along the suggestions. Here's what they said: • turn off the cell phone for an hour and take an uninterrupted walk
- [Comfort Recipe](https://colettelafia.com/comfort-recipe/) - Trust that what is meant to be is already happening in your life. Find true comfort in believing in your own fulfillment, even if you have made decisions that didn't work out very well. Just lean into your life. All of it. Comfort yourself with surrender and trust.
- [Softness](https://colettelafia.com/softness/) - In everything I am doing today, I notice how much effort I am expending. I rub the hardwood floor with a little too much muscle, I pray with too intention, I eat with too much hunger. How can I loosen the grip? I first just allow myself to notice this, without any effort to try
- [A Bowl](https://colettelafia.com/a-bowl/) - Last week, when I was presenting my book, Comfort and Joy: Simple Ways to Care for Ourselves and Others, at a spirituality gathering, a woman said to me: 'I like the way you describe comfort as an opening. We often think of comfort as only turning inward.' I was struck by that comment. Yes, comfort
- [Wondering](https://colettelafia.com/wondering/) - These days I am wondering about how the divine meets the ordinary. During the week, I park my car on a residential street, and walk a few blocks to the school building where I work. On one shoulder I am carrying a bag of books, and on the other shoulder I am carrying my blue
- [Creation](https://colettelafia.com/creation/) - It's a marvelous thing to be part of creation. I walk through the arboretum in Golden Gate park, and delight in the variety of plants, trees, and flowers. I stop and closely look at the red rhododendron bush in full bloom. It's charged with energy, from the soil, the water, and the sun. Amazing!To be
- [Grace](https://colettelafia.com/stillness/) - I need the shelter of comfort these days, as I feel the loss of my father sinking deeper and deeper into me. Comfort is a shelter, a warm blanket, a refuge. Fortunately, we do not need to do anything extraordinary to produce comfort, because it is something that already exists within each of us and
- [An Open Heart](https://colettelafia.com/an-open-heart/) - I have been awake since early morning. Of course, I would have liked to sleep more, but right now that's not happening. Can I give myself the comfort of my patience? Can I accept myself right now? I return to something I wrote in my book, Comfort & Joy: Simple Ways to Care for Ourselves
- [Finding Comfort](https://colettelafia.com/comfort-5/) - I just lost my father two weeks ago. I was with him while he made the passage. His memorial service turned out to be a peaceful family gathering. Now, I am back in my daily life, and the feelings are so deep that sometimes I don't even know what I am feeling. What I have
- [Comfort](https://colettelafia.com/comfort/) - Beginning... It was almost seven years ago that I started pondering the word, Comfort. I liked the word, the way it brought me ease from its simple sound. Comfort, I’d say to myself. That’s what I need. Tired and broken from disappointments and efforts, I began to seek comfort in my daily life. And so
- [Daily Living](https://colettelafia.com/daily-living-4/) - Have you ever had enough of a day, but had to keep going? I hit that point at around lunchtime today. I wanted to stop talking, stop interacting with people, stop responding to demands. I wanted to shout: I've had enough. But that wasn't a choice. So what could I do? I had to stretch
- [Listening](https://colettelafia.com/listening/) - Listen to another person without any pressure to give advice or solve a problem. Allow yourself to lean back, let go, and give the person plenty of room. Listening is enough. Sometimes all another person wants is the comfort of being listened to, without interpretation or interruption.
- [Comfort](https://colettelafia.com/comfort-4/) - Imagine a thread connecting every human being. Connecting yourself to the web of life can provide comfort. We are not in each other’s way, but we are the way for each other. We are the sources of comfort for one another.
- [Love](https://colettelafia.com/love-3/) - Are we always learning to love? I would say yes. There are always times when I need to forgive more, listen more, and open my heart more. The capacity of love is great, and I humbly understand that I'll never reach it. Love can always expand, always deepen, and always grow. It that way, love
- [Daily Living](https://colettelafia.com/daily-living-3/) - I am riding my bicycle through Golden Gate park, feeling my spirit coming alive in my body. There are moments of hesitation as I ride along. Oh, I might fall. I have the desire to ride with the wind, and in that desire for freedom, I meet my fears, of falling, of being hit by
- [Comfort](https://colettelafia.com/comfort-3/) - Pillow I place my pillow in the perfect spot under my head and sink into its softness. My pillow is a nightly source of comfort. It is a trusted friend that hears my bedtime whispers as I say goodnight to my husband and quietly say a prayer of gratitude for the day. Ever since I
- [Surrender](https://colettelafia.com/surrender-2/) - Some days I have the sensation of pressure slowly boiling inside me. How can I release this feeling? What is it to surrender in subtle ways -- to touch my back against the rest of a chair, to relax my arms and give someone a hug, to place a plate on the dinner table with
- [Love](https://colettelafia.com/love-2/) - I'm reading a book about caring for plants to a group of second grade students. "What do plants need to live and grow?" I ask them. The students tell me what they know, how plants need water, soil, sunshine. At the end of the discussion, a girl with a cheery round face shoots up her
- [Faithfulness](https://colettelafia.com/faithfulness/) - The day begins with breakfast. Breakfast can be toast -- toast with peanut butter, toast with cheese, toast with butter and strawberry jam. Breakfast can be a soft boiled egg. Breakfast always has fruit -- grapefruit, melon, banana. A fruit salad is always an added specialty. Breakfast always has coffee or tea. Faithfulness is my
- [Self Care Reflection](https://colettelafia.com/self-care-reflection/) - Lately, the way I am craving self care is to have unstructured time. I like to have an hour, half a day, or even a whole day, in which I have no plans or expectations on myself. It is comforting to deeply listen to myself, and listen to what I am needing right now. The
- [Everyday Spirituality](https://colettelafia.com/everyday-spirituality/) - Compassion. I am sitting at the table in the kitchen and my husband walks into the room rubbing his eyes. I'm tired today, he moans. I am reading something, but in a split second I make the decision to stop. He's weary. The day-to-day demands can make us weary. I stand up and give him
- [Comfort](https://colettelafia.com/comfort-2/) - My day is taking too much effort. At work I notice that I am exerting too much energy. I feel it in the way I am walking a few steps ahead of myself, in the way I am not taking enough time for lunch, and in the slight slump of my shoulders. I am not
- [Surrender](https://colettelafia.com/surrender/) - Tenderness. Self Acceptance. I hear myself whispering: let go. Can I open myself to the surprises of the new day? To the pink blooms on the camellia bush, the smile from my husband across the table, the smell of fresh baked banana bread. Can I be more open to what is in my life? I notice
- [Love](https://colettelafia.com/love/) - I am here in Palm Springs with my parents, who are both in their eighties. My father is extremely frail now and struggles daily just to eat, walk and sleep. My father is a man I feared as a teenager, learned to cook from as a young woman, and became friends with now in my
- [Daily Living](https://colettelafia.com/daily-living-2/) - Pueblo Blessing Hold on to what is good, even if it's a handful of earth. Hold on to what you believe, even if it's a tree that stands by itself. Hold on to what you must do, even if it's a long way from here. Hold on to your life, even if it's easier to
- [Daily Living](https://colettelafia.com/daily-living/) - The demands of my day, the breakfast dishes, and the time ticking all seem to be colliding this morning. I'm feeling rushed. Can time slow down? I once heard the best advice from someone I knew that practiced Tai Chi. He said, "When I am in a rush, I slow down." I have tried this, and it really
- [Daily Living](https://colettelafia.com/breakfast-always-includes-toast/) - In one of the final scenes in The Little Prince, by Antoine De Saint- Exupery (1943), the Little Prince meets a fox, and has a discussion with him about what it means to “have ties” and what it means to “tame” something. On his small planet, the Little Prince has two bushes and a rose.
- [Spirituality](https://colettelafia.com/spirituality/) - Julian of Norwich (1342-1416), an English mystic, experienced and articulated the feminine aspects of God’s love. "The fullness of joy is to behold God in everything,” she said. I like folding our towels: the body towel, the hand towel, the washcloth. I fold them and stack them in a pile in the hallway closet. Here I
- [Coming May 2008](https://colettelafia.com/hello-world-2/)
- [Living Spirit](https://colettelafia.com/living-spirit/) - I begin this week with gratitude, knowing every breath, every sunrise, every word I speak is a pure gift. Yes, living is a gift. Even the difficult moments. Through all my joys and difficulties, I am learning who I am, and what I am composed of? I am a symphony; I am the weather; I

## Pages

- [Home](https://colettelafia.com/) - Colette Lafia is a Spiritual Director, Retreat Leader, Worksop Facilitator, and writer who invites people to see themselves as a manifestation of Divine Love.
- [Media](https://colettelafia.com/media/) - Media Leaving the Shore Press Materials Click to Download PDF Documents: Free Book Event Flyer Endorsements for Leaving the Shore Bio for Colette Lafia Download Hi-Res image of Colette Download Hi-Res image of the book cover Bio for Colette Lafia: Colette Lafia is a San Francisco-based writer, spiritual director, and retreat leader. She is a
- [Workshops & Retreats](https://colettelafia.com/workshops-retreats/) - Retreats with Colette Lafia are a wonderful way to engage in spiritual reflection on a specific theme within a community of spiritual seekers.
- [Summertime Contemplation & Creativity](https://colettelafia.com/summertime-contemplation-creativity/) - Summertime Contemplation & Creativity Wednesday, August 19, 10-11:15 AM PT | LIVE on Zoom Sign Up for Free Join Colette for a gentle time of prayer, play, and creative exploration. Sign Up for Free We will discover the rich connection between contemplation and creativity. Creativity doesn't always begin with making something. It begins with paying
- [August 2026 Zoom Link](https://colettelafia.com/august-2026-zoom-link/) - Thank you for registering for Summertime Contemplation & Creativity Wednesday, August 19, 2025 10 - 11:15 AM Pacific Time Click Here to Join Zoom Meeting Aug 19, 2026 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86961396761?pwd=OrEyblxDR3u4u3A84H1K2T03CNJP6D.1 Meeting ID: 869 6139 6761 Passcode: 919120 Leaving the Shore: Experiencing Poetry as Prayer Explore and
- [Spiritual Journaling for Connection & Communion Zoom Link](https://colettelafia.com/spiritual-journaling-connection-communion-zoom/) - Thank you for registering for Spiritual Journaling for Connection and Communion Saturday, September 13, 2025 10 - 11 AM Pacific Time Click Here to Join Zoom Meeting Topic: Spiritual Journaling with Colette Sep 13, 2025 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86547958541?pwd=pF87egeaUjrD1awA50NWV3qimo9043.1 Meeting ID: 865 4795 8541 Passcode: 388702 Join
- [Spiritual Journaling for Connection and Communion](https://colettelafia.com/spiritual-journaling-for-connection-and-communion/) - A Divine Heart Pop-Up Spiritual Journaling for Connection & Communion Saturday, September 13, 10-11AM PT | LIVE on Zoom Sign Up for Free Are you feeling the need to be more connected to yourself? When we come home to ourselves, we can find the Divine waiting for us. Join me for this 60-minute spiritual journaling
- [Leaving the Shore: Experiencing Poetry as Prayer](https://colettelafia.com/leaving-the-shore-experiencing-poetry-as-prayer/) - Leaving the Shore: Experiencing Poetry As Prayer Now Available in Paperback. Published on December 9, 2025. Nautilus Book Award 2026 Gold Winner Poetry (Lyric Prose or Hybrid Works) Poems and related practices for a more contemplative life. Leaving the Shore explores the Holy in moments of daily living: within a marriage, while assisting a loved
- [Poetry as Prayer: Contemplative Day Retreat](https://colettelafia.com/poetry-as-prayer-san-rafael/) - Experience poetry as a contemplative path of prayer with Colette Lafia. A free day retreat in San Rafael, drawing from her new book Leaving the Shore.
- [Living the Divine Heart, A Contemplative Retreat](https://colettelafia.com/living-the-divine-heart-a-contemplative-retreat/) - Living the Divine Heart, A Contemplative Retreat with Colette Lafia & Mary Loebig Giles In-person, April 12-14, 2024 Mercy Center in Burlingame, CA Register here. "We are put on this earth for a very short time in order to learn to love," - James Finley, Ph.D., spiritual teacher and writer Our hearts are a portal
- [Copy of Spiritual Journaling for Connection and Communion](https://colettelafia.com/spiritual-journaling-for-connection-and-communion-copy/) - A Divine Heart Gathering Spiritual Journaling for Connection & Communion Saturday, September 14, 10-11AM PT | LIVE on Zoom Sign Up for Free Are you feeling the need to be more connected to yourself? When we come home to ourselves, we can find the Divine waiting for us. Join me for this 60-minute spiritual journaling
- [Sacred Unfolding: Writing as Spiritual Discovery](https://colettelafia.com/sacred-unfolding-writing-as-spiritual-discovery/) - Sacred Unfolding: Writing as Spiritual Discovery A contemplative writing retreat with Colette Lafia & Debie Thomas August 8-10, 2025 | Mercy Center, Burlingame, CA Register Now Reconnect With the Sacred Story of Your Life Through Writing What if writing was about sacred listening? What if your own story, just as it is, was the gateway
- [Read with Colette](https://colettelafia.com/read-with-colette/) - Read with Colette BOOKS BY COLETTE Order Now Leaving the Shore Experiencing Poetry as Prayer Published December 9, 2025 from Monkfish Book Publishing Leaving the Shore is a collection of poems with the intent of creating contemplative experiences for readers. The author has added guided Lectio Divina (sacred readings) and writing/journaling prompts, so that readers can
- [Love Test](https://colettelafia.com/love-test/)
- [Sacred Studio](https://colettelafia.com/sacred-studio/) - SacredStudio Presents: The Contemplative Creative Circle A Place to Practice Presence, Creativity, and Sacred Listening Registration opening soon. The Contemplative Creative Circle is a monthly gathering for those who wish to deepen their spiritual life through presence, reflection, and creative response. Rooted in contemplative practice, this circle invites participants to slow down, listen inwardly, and
- [Living The Divine Heart](https://colettelafia.com/living-the-divine-heart/) - Living The Divine Heart Monthly Online Gatherings with Colette Lafia Registration opening soon. Is your heart yearning for a deeper experience of Divine Love, the true source of love in our hearts and in our lives? Would you like to live more fully in the Divine Heart? Would you like to grow in the practice
- [Order Leaving the Shore](https://colettelafia.com/order-leaving-the-shore/) - Leaving the Shore: Experiencing Poetry As Prayer Now Available in Paperback Order now and receive the Sacred Threads Journal, filled with writing prompts, guided breath practices, and gentle invitations to slow down and listen to your life. Order Now Enter your email to receive your free 5-Day Guided Spiritual Journaling Practice A Note from Colette:
- [Media](https://colettelafia.com/media-2/) - Media Leaving the Shore Press Materials Click to Download PDF Documents: Free Book Event Flyer Endorsements for Leaving the Shore Bio for Colette Lafia Download Hi-Res image of Colette Download Hi-Res image of the book cover Published Book Reviews for Leaving the Shore: Click to download headshot. Bio for Colette Lafia: Colette Lafia is a
- [Spiritual Direction](https://colettelafia.com/spiritual-direction/) - Spiritual Direction Exploring Spiritual Direction Are you a seeker, finding yourself on a spiritual journey, and needing someone to talk to about it? About twenty years ago, I found myself seeking healing and inner peace after experiencing layers of loss-my sister had died of breast cancer, and my husband and I faced infertility. In the
- [Pre-Order Leaving the Shore](https://colettelafia.com/pre-order-leaving-the-shore/) - Leaving the Shore: Experiencing Poetry As Prayer Available Now for Pre-Order! When you pre-order now, a sacred 5-day contemplative journey awaits. Pre-Order Now The Sacred Threads journal is a gentle, 5-day journey through listening, noticing, and connecting with the sacred. Each day offers a breath practice, a journaling prompt, and an invitation for reflection. Download
- [Leaving the Shore Gifts](https://colettelafia.com/leaving-the-shore-gifts/) - Thank you for Pre-ordering Leaving the Shore: Experiencing Poetry As Prayer! Here is your free gift. A Five-Day Self-Guided Spiritual Journaling Practice (PDF) Download Now Invite Colette to offer a free book presentation to your community. Presentations and Talks Available for Leaving the Shore Colette Lafia is a Spiritual Director and award-winning author who gives
- [About Me](https://colettelafia.com/about-colette-lafia/) - About Colette Colette Lafia is a spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and writer who invites people to see themselves as a manifestation of Divine love. I have always felt the purpose of my life is to love. My journey has been one of growing in love and connecting more deeply to the Source of Love. If Colette Lafia is a Spiritual Director & Author in San Francisco. Books: The Divine Heart (May 2021), Seeking Surrender (2015) & Comfort & Joy (2008).
- [The Divine Heart](https://colettelafia.com/the-divine-heart/) - The Divine Heart: Seven Ways to Live in God's Love By Colette Lafia - May 2021 from Monkfish Book Publishing. Spiritual director Colette Lafia tells us that at the core of our being there is an ever-flowing love relationship with God, and it's here we find meaning in our lives. Beautifully expressed, with examples and
- [The Divine Heart Offerings](https://colettelafia.com/the-divine-heart-offerings/) - Join the Divine Heart Community Click the link below to receive: Newsletter with reflections and contemplative practices Pop-Up Offers: includes spiritual journaling and guided meditations Updates on online and in-person retreat, Days of Prayers, and Workshops Join Free Discussion Guide for The Divine Heart Download this free book study guide to support deeper reflection on
- [Copy of Home](https://colettelafia.com/home-copy/) - A spiritual companion for the journey OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE DIVINE IS THE LOVE STORY WE ARE ALL LIVING. The movement of our hearts towards Divine Love is the essence of our spiritual experience. It is my honor to accompany you on this profound journey of love-to offer you practices, prayers, and spiritual insights that
- [Free Resources](https://colettelafia.com/free-resources/) - Free Resources from my archives Join my email list to receive these free offerings. I'd like to share with you some of the resources that I've developed over the past few years. They've come through wisdom I've found on my own journey and I offer them as encouragement on your path. If you would like
- [Thank You for Joining My Email List](https://colettelafia.com/thank-joining-email-list/) - Enjoy Your Gifts from my archives Lectio Divina Poem Play Video Download PDF of Poem Lectio Divina Practice: Listen: Find an image that captures your attention. Reflect: Let it fill you. Respond: In prayer, express your desire for wholeness. Rest: Be still in a moment of ease. Visio Divina Instructions Play Video Download PDF Instructions
- [Centering Prayer Zoom Link](https://colettelafia.com/centering-prayer-zoom/) - Thank you for registering for Foundations of Centering Prayer! LIVE ONLINE Saturday August 17, 2024 10 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Time Click Here to Join Zoom Meeting Topic: Centering Prayer Foundation with Colette Lafia Time: Aug 17, 2024 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83131055719?pwd=LD8OC3NHoZbENbFNiWut2qpzlerUfx.1 Meeting ID: 831 3105 5719
- [A Divine Heart Pop Up Gathering](https://colettelafia.com/a-divine-heart-pop-up-gathering/) - A Divine Heart Gathering Journaling as Prayer: The Art of Sacred Listening LIVE ZOOM EVENT Saturday, April 5, 202510-11 AM PST Sign Up for Free What if our everyday experiences are already filled with prayer? Join us for a reflective pop-up gathering where we'll explore spiritual journaling as a way to let your life speak
- [Shift Network Video](https://colettelafia.com/shift-network-video/) - Click here to listen to Colette's Summit Session, The Divine Heart: Living in the Fullness of Love from the Mystics Summit by The Shift Network.
- [Living the Fruits of the Spirit For Deep Nourishment: A Day of Prayer](https://colettelafia.com/fruits-of-the-spirit/) - Living the Fruits of the Spirit For Deep Nourishment: A Day of Prayer May 24, 2025 from 10:00am-3:00pm, includes lunch Mercy Center Burlingame2300 Adeline Drive, Burlingame Register Now "The Fruits of the Spirit are indications of God's presence at work in us," - Thomas Keating Love, Joy, Peace, Kindness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Goodness, Patience, and Self-Control-these
- [Sacred Listening Zoom](https://colettelafia.com/sacred-listening-zoom/) - Thank you for registering for Journaling as Prayer: The Art of Sacred Listening! LIVE ONLINE Saturday, April 5, 2025 10-11 AM Pacific Time Click Here to Join Zoom Meeting Topic: Journaling as Prayer: The Art of Sacred Listening with Colette Lafia Time: April 5, 2025 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting
- [Spiritual Journaling Gathering](https://colettelafia.com/spiritual-journaling-pop-up/) - Spiritual Journal Writing The Heart of Gratitude LIVE ZOOM EVENT Saturday, November 2, 202410-11 AM PST Sign Up for Free "Journaling is like whispering to oneself and listening at the same time." - Mina Murray Spiritual Journal writing to connect us to the flow of giving and receiving as the heart of gratitude. We will
- [Guided Meditations](https://colettelafia.com/guided-meditations/) - Guided Meditation A relaxation practice to help us connect with Divine Love. Colette Lafia · Guided Relaxation Read More → Heart Meditation to Bring Ease Follow this guided meditation to connect with the love flowing into you and through you. Colette Lafia, Author · Heart Meditation By Colette Lafia Read More → Dwelling in
- [Books](https://colettelafia.com/books/) - Books by Colette BOOKS BY COLETTE The Divine Heart Seeking Surrender Comfort and Joy The Divine Heart Seven Ways to Live In God's Love Published May 2021 from Monkfish Book Publishing Spiritual director Colette Lafia tells us that at the core of our being there is an ever-flowing love relationship with God, and it's here
- [Spiritual Journaling Zoom](https://colettelafia.com/spiritual-journaling-zoom/) - You registered for Spiritual Journal Writing! LIVE ZOOM EVENT Saturday, November 2, 2024 10-11 AM PST Click Here to Join Zoom Meeting Add this information to your calendar! Spiritual Journal Writing: The Heart of Gratitude Time: Nov 2, 2024 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88539046246?pwd=vIyLAYzq3WZewMTmZNRdLz1bzsV1HB.1 Meeting ID: 885 3904
- [Spiritual Journaling Sign Ups](https://colettelafia.com/spiritual-journaling-sign-ups/) - [display-frm-data id="7533" filter="limited"]
- [Foundations of Centering Prayer](https://colettelafia.com/centering-prayer/) - Foundations of Centering Prayer with Colette Lafia LIVE ONLINE Saturday August 17, 2024 10 AM - 12:30 PM Pacific Time Join Us "Be still and know that I am God." Centering Prayer prepares us to more fully enter the interior silence and receive the gift of God's presence, beyond thoughts, words and emotions. Centering Prayer
- [Centering Prayer Sign Ups](https://colettelafia.com/centering-prayer-sign-ups/) - [display-frm-data id="7513" filter="limited"]
- [Contact](https://colettelafia.com/contact/) - Contact Join my email list. Painted Prayers
- [Write From the Heart](https://colettelafia.com/write-from-the-heart/) - What to expect: The practice of keeping a spiritual journal is a great way to cultivate sacred awareness. It can reveal the many ways you experience the sacred in and around you every day. As you receive and work through these seven days of guided journaling prompts, allow your journal to become a companion, helping
- [Honoring Colette](https://colettelafia.com/honoring-colette/) - Please join Colette as she enters a new time in her life, and retires from her work in public education in San Francisco. Come celebrate and mark this transition. Bring your favorite cup of tea, a prayer, a poem or a blessing to share. Saturday, May 4, 2024 9:30-10:30 PST Join Us on Zoom Topic:
- [WOMEN’S WRITING RETREAT](https://colettelafia.com/womens-writing-retreat/) - Women's Writing Retreat with Colette Lafia & Michelle Francois-Walsh In person, March 22-March 24, 2024 San Damiano Retreat Center in Danville, CA Register here. Would you like to explore how writing can deepen Your Spiritual Life? "Listen to your words" Writing is a profound and personal way to listen to our heart and soul. It
- [Fullness of Love](https://colettelafia.com/fullness-of-love/) - Please download & enjoy! The Divine Heart: Seven Ways to Live in the Fullness of Love A Discussion Guide Download PDF Watch this 2-minute video chat of Colette and Katie Wu, who recently read The Divine Heart with her Book Club. "I had a wonderful experience reading The Divine Heart with a group of eight
- [Living Comfort, Living Joy Online Retreat](https://colettelafia.com/comfort-joy-retreat/) - Living Comfort, Living Joy 6 days of heart-nourishing practices with Spiritual Director Colette Lafia, Author of Comfort & Joy A Holiday Gift for You! Living Comfort, Living Joy: a free online offering Join us for 6 days of reflections and practices for living more fully in comfort and joy this holiday season. Sign Up now!
- [The Grateful Heart](https://colettelafia.com/the-grateful-heart/) - The Grateful Heart: 7-Days of Living in Appreciation & Thankfulness with Colette Lafia Play Video Register Now for Free. Deepen your relationship with Sacred Presence Practice conscious rest to bring yourself more ease Cultivate appreciation of life's gifts Join Now for Free Gratitude Invites Us Into More Joy and Contentment During our 7-days of living
- [Seven Ways to Live in the Fullness of Love Sign Up](https://colettelafia.com/seven-ways-to-live-in-the-fullness-of-love-sign-up/) - The Divine Heart: Seven Ways to Live in the Fullness of Love A Discussion Guide Download this free book study guide to support deeper reflection on the core concepts of Living in the Fullness of Love presented in The Divine Heart. Use this guide on your own, in a book group, in the classroom, or
- [Living in the Fullness of Love](https://colettelafia.com/living-in-the-fullness-of-love/) - Divine Heart Advent Retreat: Living in the Fullness of Love Sunday, November 28-Friday, December 24, 2021 Love is only known through experience and participation. Advent is a time of prayer and reflection. It is a season of coming into the fullness of being love. During this online retreat, we will step into the
- [What is an Online Retreat?](https://colettelafia.com/what-is-an-online-retreat-2/) - What is an online retreat? An online retreat with Colette is a way to engage in spiritual reflection on a specific theme within a community of spiritual seekers. However, rather than having to travel to a distant retreat center, you can participate from your own home or from whatever place or space that allows you
- [Surrendering To Love Online Retreat](https://colettelafia.com/surrendering-to-love-online-retreat/) - Surrendering to Love: Trusting & Embracing Life Lenten Online Retreat with Colette Lafia Join us for a 14-Day Online Retreat Surrendering to Love: Trusting and Embracing Life Online Retreat Dates: March 16-29, 2020 Sponsored by Mercy Center, Burlingame About Surrendering to Love Online Retreat Opening our hearts to the path of surrender is foundational to
- [Broken and Whole Online Retreat](https://colettelafia.com/broken-and-whole-online-retreat/) - Broken and Whole: Finding Our Way to Compassion, Comfort, & Joy 14-Day Online Retreat with Colette Lafia Register now. Join us Monday, October 5 to Sunday, October 18, 2020 "May God's love wrap and enfold you, embrace you and guide you, and bring you comfort." - Julian of Norwich, 12th century mystic Register now. Presented
- [11 Days of Gratitude](https://colettelafia.com/11-days-of-gratitude/) - Restore Balance & Renew Hope During This Difficult Time 11-Days of Gratitude with Colette Lafia Join Now for Free Gratitude opens the heart to hope and uplifts us. If you find yourself feeling worn down by this time of uncertainty and stress, the good news is that gratitude has the ability to restore and renew
- [Guided Meditation on Self-Compassion](https://colettelafia.com/self-compassion/) - Guided Meditation on Self-Compassion Enjoy this 4-minute guided meditation on self-compassion with Colette Lafia.
- [Living in the Flow of Divine Love](https://colettelafia.com/divine-love/) - Living in the Flow of Divine Love A Free 7-Day Self-paced Online Retreat with Colette Lafia, author of The Divine Heart Register now. A free gift for you to fill yourself with the power and presence of Love. Please enjoy the reflections, prayers and practices on living in the flow of Divine love based on
- [What Is An Online Retreat](https://colettelafia.com/what-is-an-online-retreat/) - What is an Online Retreat? An online retreat with Colette is a way to engage in a spiritual time of reflection on a subject of interest on your own time. You will receive original content and prayer reflections created by Colette through email, and you will be invited to participate in a facilitated online discussion
- [Being Love, Becoming Whole Online Retreat](https://colettelafia.com/being-love/) - In celebration of my new book, The Divine Heart... As a way to say thank you for purchasing a copy of my new book, The Divine Heart: Seven Ways to Live in God's Love, , I would like to offer you this free online retreat. Claiming this gift is simple. Just click on this link
- [Delight In...](https://colettelafia.com/delight-in/) - Delight In... Expansiveness
- [In Person Retreats & Days of Prayer](https://colettelafia.com/in-person-retreats-days-of-prayer/) - Workshops & Retreats Retreats & Days of Prayer Colette facilitates seasonal online retreats. The topics range from finding comfort and joy in everyday life, to living a life overflowing with Divine love. Upcoming Events + In Person Retreats Please join my newsletter email list for invitations to upcoming events, workshops and in person retreats. Join
- [Online Retreats](https://colettelafia.com/online-retreats/) - Online Retreats What is an online retreat? An online retreat with Colette is a way to engage in spiritual reflection on a specific theme within a community of spiritual seekers. However, rather than having to travel to a distant retreat center, you can participate from your own home or from whatever place or space that
- [10 Tips for Finding Comfort & Joy during the Holiday Season](https://colettelafia.com/finding-comfort-joy-holiday-season/) - 10 Ways to Create Comfort & Joy this Holiday Season. Please enjoy my free eBook, 10 Ways to Create Comfort & Joy this Holiday Season. Click Here to Download View some of the images below.
- [Living Gratitude Challenge](https://colettelafia.com/living-gratitude-challenge/) - Restore Balance & Renew Hope During This Difficult Time 11-Day Living Gratitude Challenge Join Now for Free Gratitude opens the heart to hope and uplifts us. If you find yourself feeling worn down by this time of uncertainty and stress, the good news is that gratitude has the ability to restore and renew you. This
- [Healing Gifts of Gratitude](https://colettelafia.com/healing-gifts-of-gratitude/) - Healing Gifts of Gratitude with Colette Lafia An 11-Day Gratitude Challenge Restoring Balance, Renewing Hope About Healing Gifts of Gratitude Living Gratitude is designed to be a sacred time to open our hearts, inspire our lives, and nourish ourselves with gratitude this season. We are always awakening and reawakening gratitude and the fall season is
- [Love Like the Mystics Online Retreat](https://colettelafia.com/love-like-the-mystics-online-retreat/) - Love Like the Mystics in Times of Bewildering Loss & Uncertainty Live Online Zoom Retreat guided by Colette Lafia & Mary Loebig Giles Register now. Please Join Us Online Zoom Retreat Date: Friday, April 17, 2020 9:30am to 12:00pm $35 Non-refundable registration Register now. Sponsored by Mercy Center, Burlingame What do an ancient and modern
- [Deepening Gratitude Online Retreat](https://colettelafia.com/deepening-gratitude/) - Deepening Gratitude: Appreciating the Divine Presence Within All Things with Colette Lafia Join us for our 3rd annual online gratitude retreat, offered through Mercy Center, Burlingame. This 7-day online retreat will invite you into a contemplative experience of gratitude. Online Retreat Dates: 7 days from Monday, November 18 to Sunday, November 24, 2019. Cost: This
- [October](https://colettelafia.com/october/) - Mercy Center Online Spirituality with Colette lafia Cultivating Everyday Comfort & Joy with Colette Lafia, Author & Spiritual Director Post 1 • Week 1 Slow down and be more present. Today when you ask someone, “How are you?” take the time to be present. Listen to another person without any pressure to give advice or
- [Healing Gifts of Gratitude Sign Up](https://colettelafia.com/retreat-sign-up/) - Sign up below for The Healing Gifts of Gratitude Online retreat led by Colette Lafia, Spiritual Director November 1-11, 2018 Presented by Mercy Center Your course enrollment login information will be emailed to you on October 30, to join the retreat starting on November 1st, 2018. Please contact Colette at colette.lafia@gmail.com or 415-290-9372 with any questions.
- [5 Sacred Practices](https://colettelafia.com/5-sacred-practices/) - Enjoy your ebook 5 Sacred Practices with Colette Lafia Download 5 Sacred Practices ebook
- [Living Gratitude Gallery](https://colettelafia.com/living-gratitude-gallery/) - [envira-gallery id="4642"]
- [Spiritual Direction](https://colettelafia.com/spiritual-direction-2/) - What is Spiritual Direction? There is a spiritual dimension to all human experience, to all the joy and pain that moves through our lives, and this is what is explored in spiritual direction. Spiritual direction allows a person to deepen their experience of the Divine in their hearts and in their lives. My work is
- [Painted Prayers](https://colettelafia.com/painted-prayers/) - [envira-gallery id="3679"]
- [Love Moment Meditation](https://colettelafia.com/love-moment-meditation/) - Here is a Love Moment Meditation for you! Save
- [Joyful Surrender landing page](https://colettelafia.com/joyful-surrender-landing-page/) - Get 10 Joyful Surrender Tips [fourcol_three] Empower your life through joyful surrender - the path to greater freedom and contentment. Join the community by filling out the form and receive the article "10 Joyful Surrender Tips" directly to your inbox. Colette Lafia is a San Francisco-based writer, spiritual director, workshop facilitator, blogger and part-time school
- [Spiritual Journal - Thank You For Subscribing](https://colettelafia.com/spiritual-journal-thank-you-for-subscribing/) - Your subscription to the 7 Day Spiritual Journal has been confirmed. Thank you! Colette Lafia colette@colettelafia.org

## Categories

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- [Love Notes](https://colettelafia.com/category/love-notes/)

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- [healing relationships](https://colettelafia.com/tag/healing-relationships/)
- [love note](https://colettelafia.com/tag/love-note/)
- [participation](https://colettelafia.com/tag/participation/)
- [relationship](https://colettelafia.com/tag/relationship/)
- [staying open](https://colettelafia.com/tag/staying-open/)
- [grace](https://colettelafia.com/tag/grace/)
- [healing](https://colettelafia.com/tag/healing/)
- [connection](https://colettelafia.com/tag/connection/)
- [contemplative reflection](https://colettelafia.com/tag/contemplative-reflection/)
- [gratitude practice](https://colettelafia.com/tag/gratitude-practice/)
- [love in action](https://colettelafia.com/tag/love-in-action/)
- [encouragement](https://colettelafia.com/tag/encouragement/)
- [resilience](https://colettelafia.com/tag/resilience/)
- [everyday blessings](https://colettelafia.com/tag/everyday-blessings/)
- [thanksgiving](https://colettelafia.com/tag/thanksgiving/)