Author Archive

appropriate risks ?

Janie Cook | March 6, 2010 | 1 Comments

I don’t know who wrote this short bit of wisdom, but it popped into my mind the first time Laura mentioned Risk-a-Day to me, so I searched until I found it.
To laugh
is to risk appearing a fool.
To weep
is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another
is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings
is to risk [...]

Living Into New Skin

Janie Cook | February 6, 2010 | 2 Comments

Well, I did it. I actually submitted an article for publication.
I’ve thought about doing this, talked about doing this, imagined myself doing this for years and suddenly one day last October, I did it. I’m not sure what made the difference. I had just given a presentation telling about my experience of grief over the [...]

The Gift of Uncertainty

Janie Cook | January 6, 2010 | 4 Comments

“It may be when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey.”    (Wendell Berry)
If there is one characteristic of our culture that seems deeply ingrained in us, it is to be certain.  Now [...]

Being Safe

Janie Cook | December 6, 2009 | 2 Comments

Our daughter was a Peace Corps volunteer and served 2 years and 3 months in Niger, West Africa. She lived in a little village by herself in the midst of a loving community of poverty-stricken people. She had no running water, no electricity, no trash pick-up, no grocery store, no medical care, no [...]

The Honesty of Grief

Janie Cook | November 6, 2009 | 3 Comments

Sometimes folks who love us grow weary with our grief over losing a loved one and want us to be “better” before we are able.  There is cultural pressure to “be strong” and “be okay” .  It takes patience and inner strength to continue leaning into the sadness  in order to heal from deep within.  [...]