Birds of Murchison Falls

I've become a shameless bird nerd since I moved to Uganda and if any place could convert you to be a bird lover, this is it. There are 1,061 species of birds recorded in Uganda (a country the size of Oregon state), compared to 914 found in all of North America.

When I take out my camera to look for birds, I find myself entirely drawn into the present moment, all my senses alert and at the mercy of whatever decides to come into my life. Bird watching has a profoundly spiritual nature to it, forcing me to be with what is rather than clinging or resisting what I do or do not want. A beautiful and rare bird may flit on a branch for only a second without allowing me to capture it, but I must accept the moment has passed, let it go, and see what else Is Now.

The other special thing about birds is they may show up and grace your life in any unexpected moment. As I type this, a red-breasted sunbird flits around outside my window, drinking with its mate from the flowers in my yard. Birds have often been my saving-grace for living in the city. Even among the concrete chaos and the car fumes, they surprise me with their presence. I've spotted several beauties along the telephone lines in Kampala as I drive through the horrendous traffic.

Last year, I took a couple of trips to Murchison Falls National Park in northern Uganda. Armed with a new 400mm lens, I loved capturing the great variety of birds the park offers. One morning, Eric let me take a boat ride to the delta while he stayed at the lodge with our grumpy toddler. These hours alone with wildlife and my camera were exactly how I wished to recover from a long, sleepless night. Somehow, these birds heal me.

Day in the Life family photo session

As we look forward into 2018, the marking of time makes me realize just how quickly life changes. In the day-to-day, life trudges on slowly, but as I look back over a year, I see how much happened in those days. Family has grown, history has been made, and it's all we can do to keep up with it. What seems incremental may have been monumental.

It is the small moments I believe we will cherish when we look back, which is why we invited Emily Ward to come and capture "A Day in the Life" of our family. I wanted her to capture our small family in mid-2017, mostly because my breastfeeding relationship with Leo was coming to and end and I wanted something to savor from those special years.

Below are some of my favorites that Emily captured of our family in July 2017. Already, I look back on them with fondness.

Murchison Falls National Park

This year I took two trips to Uganda's most popular national park - Murchison Falls National Park. We took a group of 30, who came for The Unity Initiative, on safari and I had to take an earlier trip to the park to hash out logistics for the group, so we made it into a family weekend.

This park remains one of the most popular game parks because the delta attracts animals, so you don't have to drive long to find good game sightings. We also managed to snag the best park ranger, who spotted a leopard hanging in a tree from an unimaginable distance.

I've been on safari more times than I can count now, but it never gets old and has become a favorite way for our family to get out of the city. There is always something about the wild that will beckon us. Here is a collection of some of my favorite photos of those two trips.

Talk to me about:

A couple of weeks ago, I led a soul/self-care workshop at an organization's annual staff retreat and upon arrival, I was handed a name tag with two categories I had to fill in:
Name:
Talk to me about:

Clearly, the first category was not a problem, but I took a long pause at the second one. I was in a group of mostly strangers and they wanted to know what they could talk to me about. What made me interesting or unique? What could I offer a conversation?  I found myself intimidated by the question and thought of the only two things my life is currently consumed by: my son, Leo, and the spiritual life I've been diving into with The Living School and my work in soul care.  I didn't know what else to talk about, so I wrote down those two things.

I don't think I'm a bad conversationalist, but after filling out the name tag, I felt embarrassed. I realized I'm better at tailoring the conversation to the other person's interests than I am at offering my own funny stories or quirks. The topics I enjoy talking about aren't usually light cocktail conversations; they are more suited to a cozy cafe, longer chunks of time, and knowing someone intimately. I'd love to get better at the fun and light conversations about myself, but until then, I've thought of a few of my favorite topics of conversation. Here are some things you can talk to me about, maybe over coffee sometime.

- Community and individuality: How to remain part of a community while maintaining your unique individuality, especially when you feel different from everyone else. What is the value of staying in a community of people who make you feel uncomfortable? What does staying look like and when should you leave?

- Motherhood as a spiritual path: Is it possible to maintain a contemplative practice while being a mother? What does this look like? What unique contributions can mothers make to the way of wisdom?

- Feminism, women in leadership, and women as peacemakers: Why it's so important and what prevents women from reaching our potential.

- Rituals, and why they matter: Making personal and communal rituals with meaning to acknowledge the passing of time, to mark an important transition, or to remember a deep truth.

- Simplicity: Why lightening the load in life is a key to happiness and a better world. What makes it so hard? Why "no" is a beautiful word and "enough" is a lovely concept.

-Wonder and mystery: Why allowing ourselves to be amazed and remain in not-knowing is so important to our spiritual lives. How wonder weaves itself into the smallest moments and yet manifests as all of Reality.

- Photography and bird watching: How they both keep me present, make me notice What Is, and keep me amazed.

-My son: The joy of my life and the one who pushes me to the limits the most often; my greatest teacher and bringer of laughter

- How little peace makes big peace: Why peace in the world can't happen until we find peace in ourselves. How the problems in ourselves manifest in the larger world and how it's easier to see the problem "over there" rather than "in here."

- My journey with the Christian faith: A wandering and continuing journey within, out of, around, and at the fringes of this religion. My scoffing at it, questions with it, trouble with the label of it, and finding beauty in its essence. How it has helped me find truth elsewhere and how other traditions have played a part in bringing me back to my own.

Spacecraft

Empty space can be an invitation. Whether space in time or a physical place, emptiness invites creation - a making of something where there was nothing.  There is a creative act in the filling of emptiness; I like to call it Spacecraft.

The past year of my life has been one of fluidity. There is less predictability, schedule, and set expectations, than in other seasons, so that leaves a lot of empty space to be filled and it's up to me to decide how to fill it. Who to be, what to do?  These are big questions.

I keep finding myself saying I want to, "create spaces for people to access their own wisdom."  I just keep saying that and so there must be something Real in it. Surely, I must listen to myself and surely there must be wisdom in something that seems to keep bubbling up from a place deep inside.

Here are a few of the spaces I've filled or I'm working to fill, all exciting and touching on a purpose I can't quite pinpoint and say, "This right here is who I am and what I do."  All I can really say is, "I'm starting to specialize in Spacecraft."

SPACES IN TIME

• There is a week in July that a friend and I decided to use to bring people together across continents and across religious divides to form lasting friendships. We meet each week to decide how to best fill this week and we're quite certain it's going to be a special time.  Find out more at The Unity Initiative website.
• Nonprofit organizations in the region are giving me spaces in their annual staff retreats or within their work days to lead workshops on staff care and soul care. Emotional and spiritual burnout is a common issue for those working to improve the lives of others; we can't give what we do not have and we cannot help when we are cynical and stressed. This has become an issue I love working on and one that needs addressing. I'm also consulting individuals who are taking a personal retreat and need ideas on how to best fill their time to make it meaningful and leave them feeling full again. This is all a lot of fun for me.
• Last year, I worked with a team to host 200 people from this region and around the world to come together and learn how the teachings of Jesus are not Christian, but radically relevant to us all and a point of unity across the divides in our world. My specialty was in organizing the small groups and craft how people from all different backgrounds would get to know one another deeply within a few days. It was my dream assignment.

PHYSICAL SPACES

• Last year, we crafted a rooftop jungalow addition to our home. An empty rooftop is now a treasured Space for the Special.
• There is a piece of land right on the Nile River, only a few kilometers from where this longest river in the world begins its journey. A vision is slowly forming around this family property and we've had the fun privilege to share in its creation.  A beautiful home is nearing completion and we hope to use this space to serve others well for rest, fun, and soul-searching.

DIGITAL SPACE

• Last year I began The Living School and I'm working to be more consistent in my spiritual practice alongside motherhood.  It launched me into a journey of questioning whether it's possible to be both a mother and a contemplative. After all, there aren't many role models out there who bridge those two worlds. After thinking about this for over year and talking to several other women, I started on online space to expand this conversation.  Do let me know if you're interested in exploring the topic of "Motherhood as Spiritual Practice" with me.