I was knitting and daydreaming during a budget review when a dedicated committee member looked at our numbers and said, “We need to make the margins work.” I agree. Margins matter....

Going low is a powerful concept for people who dream of flying. Kristin, a graduate of Thistle Farms, says that “going low is like hitting rock bottom.” It doesn't mean your...

I stopped fighting the person I was becoming. I stopped apologizing. I stopped believing that my worth depended on fitting into someone else’s box. I am still unfolding and learning...

We are broken and jagged and need time to be smoothed by the churning tides of time until we become like old treasure on a sandy carpet. I think of the...

Leave her alone is a loving incarnation in which women and girls flourish. Leaving people enough space to chart their own heroic journey is gospel work.

The cry of a hawk is a glimmer of hope in darkness. That glimmer is enough for all those grieving under the same blue sky in this big old world....

As we strive for economic, political, and professional success in the name of justice, it is the best news to find friends—people who are willing to be in proximity to suffering and...

There is camaraderie in cheering for women who have survived and are making their way. There is love as we realize we both come wounded and want to be heard....

This year, while I am watching and waiting for a peace to pass my understanding, I am celebrating the miracle that any path forward is possible. It may be less traveled,...

Through the long journey of forgiveness and healing, the hard and dry ground of anger finds tender shoots that bloom new leaves for healing. Transformation is not an event; it is...

I was longing for root memory that might connect me to my innocence before my footprints in these sands were washed away. This was the place where my longing was...

Everyone recognizes the beauty of lofty cathedrals that celebrate the architects and artists who created them. But it is a huge gift when we can put on beatific lenses and...

When news of protests and a toppled government emerged from Nepal in 2025, I was grateful for my memories of this beautiful country.   A few years ago, I led...

I love thinking about how everyone is free to use our imaginations, the same imagination used by prophets and poets since they first looked up at a cloud or saw...

The Remnant Project quilts invite us to wrap ourselves in different stories to draw the courage we need to help change the story for the next generation. 

Every prophet, teacher, and sage goes to the Mountain. It is where we can keep our hearts strong, where we can glimpse the possibilities of our lives, and where we can...

All I want to say on these long hot summer days to is to keep on keeping on for years and years and believe there is a small bend. Believing...

Surrendering to love, especially in historically difficult times is no easy task and comes with a cost.

After more than 25 years of this work, I still wonder about so many of the women who have graced the steps of Thistle Farms. Do they see their intrinsic...

When we cultivate our ability to see the divine in the midst of our days, slowly we can trust that deep within us lies the same love that was woven...

Redefining power is an exercise that offers us an opportunity to see how we have undercut or abused our own. More and more, I am shying away from the word...

We believe in honoring women and that love heals… This is how we grow a movement.

Although I have worked for the past few decades on behalf of survivors of trafficking and injustices within the criminal justice system, I still am caught off guard by the...

Sometimes I feel scared to stop and wait. It seems counterintuitive. I have been trying to grow a movement for women's freedom for decades through the work of Thistle Farms,...