Some Austinites delight in outdoor summer exercise. Well-earned sweat glistens on their tanned and toned bodies and anoints their beatific smiles. I confess, my summer walks feel like toiling up Mount Doom to cast the ring of power into the sweltering flames that forged it.
Some people welcome chores as a time to pray for those the task benefits: for the partner/spouse whose laundry they’re doing, for the child whose room they’re dusting. I confess that even the thought of chores makes me cranky. And my chief and fervent chore prayer is that it will be DONE.
There are those whose faith life is joyful, comforting, unquestioning. I confess that mine is more adolescent and angsty. I stomp around, troubled by torments both personal and global, wondering why God doesn’t DO SOMETHING and what is taking SO LONG?
Why am I sharing these personal vignettes? Mainly because, if someone is going through an adolescent faith phase, I hope they’ll feel a bit less alone and bit more encouraged. Also, because whether or not a reader relates to my angst just now, they may do someday, or someone they love may as well. And last, because, should a practice feel like drudgery or delight, it’s motives and actions that form our faith.
So. Whether we relish chores or not, we do them to provide a clean, welcoming space for those who dwell in or visit our home. We exercise, whether it’s a delight of a discipline, to give our body its best chance for a healthy, abundant life. We keep praying, reading Scripture, worshiping, and living the tenets of our faith because, no matter how confused and frustrated we are, God is the deepest love and allegiance of our lives.
We don’t have to pretend. Our lives, our faith can be as real and as individual as we are.
As we move into May and spring cleaning, and look toward summer and sweltering temps, we can do so with a faith that allows us to question, to anguish, and to grow.
How do you feel about Texas heat and outdoor exercise? About chores? About a lived faith? Share your thoughts at contact@aspaciousplace.com.
Summer days found school-aged me trolling library shelves for reads. Drawn to titles, authors, and book covers, I nabbed one after another, silently counting (it was a library, after all, SHHHH!) up to my check-out limit. I ferried the stack to the librarian’s desk, where each book was stamped with the return date, sorted by size—large to small—and slid across the desk into my waiting hands. Dropping the stash into my bike basket, I pedaled home, grabbed an apple and Book 1 on my “Must Read” list, and set out in search of a shade tree.
Those summers, leaning against a tree, I traveled the world, discovered folk takes and traditions of other cultures, dived sea depths and rocketed into space. I walked alongside history’s giants and stared up at a blade of grass through the eyes of an insect. I was free to choose and to read whatever peaked my interest. The only exception was when my mother nixed fairy tales for a time, because I was reading the Grimms brothers and Hans Christian Andersen’s more grisly tales and having nightmares. The magic of those tales stayed with me, however, and I revisited them, sans nightmares, in later years.
No question: child development and temperament must be considered in a child’s reading material. My mother served me well in saying, “not now.” But “not now” is a far cry from depriving the child of even knowing a book exists. The first choice comes from love and hope. The second from control and repression.
That’s why we’re hosting our Banned Book Speakeasy. Just as, during prohibition, legislators banned alcohol in an attempt to force their morality on others, now, across our country, laws are being passed to ban books that some people, and the politicians who wish to please them, find offensive. At A Spacious Place, we stand with authors speaking their truth in print, and with readers who open their minds to read that truth. Sometimes that truth connects with our personal story, and that is a gift. Sometimes that truth is not ours and gives us the opportunity to clarify what we believe and why. That, too, is a gift, though a grittier one.
We stand against laws that seek to rein in or destroy art; we stand for the freedom to read. We hope you’ll join us as we gather at the Speakeasy to open a book and open our minds.
What are your favorite reading memories? What are your thoughts on book freedom and book banning? Share your thoughts with us at contact@aspaciousplace.com.
We walk a neighborhood hill that, I swear, gets steeper as the temperatures climb. I powered up it one morning and, at its crest, found myself winded.
Winded. A word I come across in books, but rarely in conversation.
Yet the word shot into my mind as I paused at the crest, bent over, hands on thighs, hauling in breath. And it named more than my lung fatigue.
We live on a planet stained by pandemic and, despite our efforts to scrub it out, a faint tinge remains. Every cough is suspect; we face a lifetime of annual shots in the arm. More than that, the after effects stare at us through empty business windows, empty (or overpriced) store shelves, empty chairs. Leaves us winded.
Across the globe, war drags on: civilians taking up arms, hundreds of thousands killed, citizens tortured, children kidnapped. All for a hunk of land. Leaves us winded.
Yet another school shooting. Yet another community horrified and grieving. Parents of slain children comforting the most recent parents of slain children. How do we describe the tragedy? Vile? Obscene? The new normal? Leaves us winded.
Great art banned or labeled pornographic. Winded.
Add to that a spate of natural disasters, stress at work or school and/or home, personal loss. Definitely winded.
With all that taxing our air supply, how can we draw breath? These practices can send good O2 coursing through our souls. Choose what suits you.
Sing! Singing literally helps us draw breath. It also lessens depression and enables us to express our emotions. Who cares if we’re pitch perfect or know all the words? Let’s just crank up the music and belt it out!
Journal: Whether we journal in words, illustrations, or items glued onto a page, a journal is our breathing space. We find clarity and cleansing between the covers of our journal.
Good Growing: Whether we plant a garden, take a wildflower road trip, or tend a succulent, attending to the health and hope of living things helps us breathe deep.
Advocate/Volunteer: We can do something to alleviate a hardship or wrong that has us winded. Send a get-well card, foster or adopt a rescue animal, sign a petition, attend our Banned Book Speakeasy…. Whatever action we take, however small, for the good, is a breath of fresh air. At the same time, we need also to…
…Care for Self: Be it a daily rest time, a good book, a walk in nature, or a creative project, caring for ourselves is vital when we’re winded.
Savor Surprise: Like a resurrection, fresh starts can come as a surprise. Let’s gather breath and hope for great amazement in days to come. When it comes, however unexpected, let’s savor it!
Spring is here, with its promise of fresh air and fresh starts. We, at A Spacious Place, hope for you experiences that fill and thrill your soul with bracing, fresh air.
How does “winded” feel to you? How do you find soul breath in hard times? Share your thoughts with us at contact@aspaciousplace.com.
Turning a hobby into a business is an exciting endeavor, but it can also be challenging. While it may seem like a natural progression to turn your passion into a career, there’s a lot more to it than just doing what you love. Here are some tips on what it takes to turn a hobby into a business.
Research the Market Demand
Before you start a business, it’s important to research the market demand for the product or service you want to offer. You don’t want to invest time and money into something that isn’t in demand. Start by doing a simple search and look for competitors offering similar products or services. Check out online forums to see what people are talking about in your niche. You can also use tools to see how interest in your hobby has changed over time.
Write a Realistic Business Plan
Once you’ve determined that there is a demand for your product or service, it’s time to develop a realistic business plan. Your business plan should include a detailed description of your product or service, target audience, marketing strategy, financial projections, and growth plan. It’s important to keep your business plan flexible because things will inevitably change along the way.
Conduct a Financial Analysis
Before you start a hobby business, you need to determine whether it would be financially viable. Conducting a financial analysis will help you determine whether your hobby business would be profitable. You need to think about the cost of materials, production, and marketing. Consider how much you would need to charge for your product or service to make a profit. If the numbers don’t add up, you may need to adjust your business plan or look for other ways to make your hobby profitable.
Get to Know Your Target Audience
Knowing everything about your target audience is essential when starting a hobby business. You need to understand their needs, wants, and preferences. Consider creating buyer personas that outline your ideal customer. This will help you tailor your marketing efforts to reach the right people.
Color Your Branding Strategy
Choosing the right colors for your branding is a key to success in building a successful hobby business. The colors you choose can evoke emotions and influence buying decisions of your target audience. By selecting colors that reflect your brand’s personality and values, you can establish a strong connection with your customers and create a lasting impression.
Stay on Top of Current Trends in Your Niche
Staying up-to-date with current trends in your niche is crucial when starting a hobby business. You need to know what’s popular and what’s not. This will help you create products or services that are in demand. Subscribe to industry newsletters, attend trade shows, and follow influencers in your niche to stay on top of the latest trends.
Expand Your Network
Networking is an essential part of growing any business. Attend industry events and conferences to meet other professionals in your niche. Join online groups and forums to connect with others who share your passion. These connections can lead to new business opportunities and partnerships.
Increase Your Business Knowledge
If you’re serious about starting a hobby business, consider going back to school to get a business degree. A business degree can teach you valuable skills such as financial analysis, marketing, and management. Click for more information on how a business degree can benefit your hobby business and provide you with a network of professionals who can help you grow your business.
In conclusion, turning a hobby into a business demands more than just passion and skill. It requires thorough research, meticulous planning, and a comprehensive understanding of your target audience and industry trends. Armed with these crucial insights, you can transform your hobby into a thriving and lucrative business venture.
Is your phone blowing up with texts from political hopefuls of every ilk? What about political attack ads blasting from TV, radio, and our computers? Ever wished for a “Mute Poli-talk” app for your devices? For me, yes to all three.
In the centuries before our births, people survived sickness, poverty, hostile takeovers, and despotism. I must confess that those persons had seemed to me like fictional characters: something like the throng in The Princess Bride. I’m now keenly aware that real persons survived harshness, injustice, and cruelty: and that enough of them hoped for something better so that, in many places, things are better.
This year, these hopeful persons from our history challenge me to vote, not only as a civic duty, but also as a spiritual discipline. What does spiritual-discipline voting look like? Here are some possibilities.
· Research: Check out reputable sources. Allow the candidates to speak for themselves rather than relying on attacks from their opposition.
· Faith over Fear: Attack ads work because fear is a powerful motivator. With that awareness, we can resist panic and vote our values instead.
· Reflect: What are our core values? What do we rely on for security? What do we hope for our values to be? What does God (by whatever name we choose) hope for us to value? After reflection leads to clarity, we take our God values to the polls.
· Neighboring: We can vote, considering not only our desires and hopes, but also those of our neighbors and of future generations. We can vote in, and for, community.
· Vote: Texas ranks near the bottom of the nation in voter turnout. We can make time to vote and encourage others to do the same. *If you need transportation, let us know and we will get you to the polls.
Voting as spiritual discipline means we create the future—for ourselves and for others— when we take our values to the polls.
What are your thoughts and feelings on poli-talk? How do you cope with attack ads? What are your thoughts on voting as spiritual practice? We would love to hear from you. Share your Soul & Solace thoughts at contact@aspaciousplace.com.
We see them: leering at us from billboards, television screens, store fronts. And come the end of the month, they’ll saunter down our streets, terrifying to behold, demanding sugar. Frankensteins with pea-green skin, vampires with dead white complexions, zombies losing whatever skin and skin tone they once had. Monsters, all. Right?
I just reread T.J. Klune’s, The House in the Cerulean Sea (I hope you’ll treat yourself to a read and possibly a reread. Bring tissues.) The story features a monstrous-looking creature whose greatest hope is to serve others. The greatest hope of people in the story who look “normal” is to serve themselves at the expense of others. So, what makes a monster? Appearance or attitudes and actions?
Is the pea-green guy with neck bolts the monster, or is the monster the scientist who forced life into vulnerable tissue, and then refused that life community and companionship? What of the Count on Sesame Street, who teaches children their numbers? Also, the zombie R, in the film Warm Bodies, yearns more for love than for a brain-tissue snack.
So, what makes a monster? The question has been debated for centuries. Is a monster that which looks like “other”: one that shocks and horrifies on sight? Does a being’s appearance make that being a monster?
Is a monster that which acts in self-interest and without compassion? Does a single monstrous act make a monster, or is it a pattern of choiced actions? Is one who destroys, regardless of appearance, monstrous? What of one who benefits if we fear one another: who goads us to see difference as threat?
That’s a lot of questions without easy answers. Yet, a wise man once challenged us to love our neighbors as ourselves: not more than ourselves, and not less than. In curbing monstrosity, it seems like a good place to start. What are your thoughts and feelings on the topic of monsters? What, for you, is monstrous? We would love to hear from you. Share your Soul & Solace thoughts at contact@aspaciousplace.com.
If you’re like most other parents, your top priority is for your children to be safe and secure. You want them to have a firm foundation they can build upon when they leave your home — a foundation that helps them do well in life.
There’s no getting around the fact that finances will play a major role in any adult’s life. You may not care if your child becomes the wealthiest person in the world, but you want to help them avoid money management issues in adulthood. These tips are a great place to start!
Spark Their Entrepreneurial Interest
One of the most fundamental principles of any sound financial management plan is to earn money. And these days, there are more opportunities than ever for young people who want to start their own businesses. If your child seems to have an entrepreneurial spirit, why not introduce them to the fundamentals of building credit and starting a company? To run a successful business, you must know how to manage money, and studying the steps required to launch a company will naturally teach your child about healthy finances.
Depending on your child’s age and your financial situation, it may be a good idea to refinance your mortgage and include your child in the process. It can be a great opportunity to introduce concepts like credit, interest rates, and mortgages. If you have your own questions about the process, you have the chance to find answers together.
If your child has a lot of creative aptitude, use that to get them interested in business. They may be interested in creating logos and graphics for a new company. Alternatively, they may be excited by the idea of creating a business to sell their artistic works.
Host a Family Game Night
Children can learn more in less time when they are having fun. Establishing a weekly game night with your family can provide an excellent opportunity for bonding, as well as an opportunity to discuss things such as your family’s values and to impart important life lessons. And if you include financial-based games, you can guide your child toward financial literacy!
As adults, we tend to overlook some of the valuable opportunities for teaching as we go about daily life. For example, each time we shop, we must make many little decisions that impact our families. Next time you go shopping for groceries, bring your child along with you and include them in the decision-making process.
Give your child a budget and explain your priorities for the shopping trip. Then, show them how to compare products and determine which items they should purchase to stay within the budget while getting your family what you need. While you’re at it, show them how discounts and coupons work.
Work With Spreadsheets
Financial illiteracy is far more prevalent today than it used to be. It seems that kids and adults alike are simply overwhelmed by the prospect of budgeting and money management. However, as long as your kid knows how to use two columns on a spreadsheet, they can quickly learn the basics of budgeting income and expenses.
Download a free printable spreadsheet online designed to help children learn how to budget. Then, walk your child through listing each expense and income source while making room for saving. Once your child has the basics down, you can move on to real-life budgeting scenarios and decisions, which will take time and work.
Openly Discuss Financial Matters
Lastly, discuss money freely with your kids. If you and your spouse talk about the budget, invite your child to listen to the conversation. If you decide whether or not to make a major purchase, involve your child and ask their opinion.
Even if you are dealing with financial issues, don’t feel like you need to hide every detail from your child. Even hearing some of the language and how money management works in real life can become ingrained in your child and help them later in life. No matter what your child chooses to do with their life, money will probably play a central role in how successful and happy they become as an adult. Consider the tips above for teaching your child the ropes of financial literacy. And keep researching other ways that you can help them develop a basic understanding of how to manage their money effectively.
“In the Dark Ages, people believed the world was flat.” I first heard this concept in elementary school, and have seen it reiterated in film and on television often since. Dark ages belief in a flat earth a widely accepted “fact.”
Yet my daughter Arielle, a Medieval scholar, shared these insights about the time designated as the Dark Ages:
Not the dark ages:
People in Medieval times had soap and took baths;
Universities were founded in Europe during the High Middle Ages, and a lot of the learning came to them from Jewish and Muslim scholars, including ones who interpreted Greek texts into Latin (Aristotle, Plato, etc.);
We think of “peasants” as poor, miserable, dirty, and fully dependent on their nobles; actually, the non-nobles and non-clergy population describes a large group of people (those who “work,” as opposed to those who fight—nobles, kings, knights—and those who pray—clergy) and they were not all in awe of their nobles—there were several uprisings in England (as one example); there were also craftspeople, wealthy merchants, and so on who would fall under this category;
Women weren’t all oppressed (queens and ladies often defended their lands from attackers);
They knew the world was round (the Norse “found” the Americas well before Columbus, and the orbs that you see kings and such holding when they were crowned or depicted in art are meant to represent the globe—a sphere);
Oh, and witch trials in England—that’s a “Renaissance”/Early Modern thing.
So why all this misleading information about times gone by? I suspect our teachers and entertainers were, in good faith, sharing what was taught them, as I doubt there is a national conspiracy to disparage the pre-Renaissance era. They taught what they thought.
Which got me thinking about, well, thinking. A lot of what we do at A Spacious Place encourages choice: what color do you want? Which song do you choose to sing? Does the work feel finished to you? It not, what else do you want to do with it?
We encourage choice because each one of us deserves to know our own mind. Each one of us has the right—and the responsibility—to think for ourselves. To ask questions. To do our own research. Otherwise, we cheat ourselves of true selfhood, and we cheat the world of the persons we, alone, can be.
Someone somewhere did their own research and discovered that Medieval times weren’t so dark after all. Then that person shared the information with another, who, hopefully, verified with their own research, and so on.
Why this lengthy discourse inspired the earth’s rotundity and times not so dark? Because thinking for ourselves has never been more vital. We need faith leaders and government leaders who encourage free thinking. When either—or—both expect, instead, that we blindly choose their version of truth, we need to do our own thinking.
After reading this piece, I hope everyone double checks the flat-earth concept. And then, while we’re at it, let’s double check something else we’ve long assumed correct (with at least two credible sources, of course). Because, for each of us, the shape of our soul is ours to choose.
What practices help shape your faith? How do you understand truth, fact, and opinion? How important is choice to you? We would love to hear from you. Share your Soul & Solace thoughts at contact@aspaciousplace.com.
It began as a gentle urge: while watching neighbors walk their dogs, viewing news stories about overcrowding at the animal shelter, or hearing stories from family and friends. Then the gentle push changed into a direct order: I was to be home to an animal in need. David wasn’t so sure. As a teen, he’d been assigned the job of taking the ailing family dog to be put down, because his mother “just couldn’t face it.” And, also, there was the expense.
Together we arrived at a decision which saw us motoring to the shelter with two puppies we’d found on their website in mind. The first pup was being treated for a respiratory infection and was unavailable. I felt relieved: I had neither the skills nor the resources to care for an ailing pet: just a backyard and some love to give.
We met our second choice, a female German Shepherd pup who looked stern and noble, and who acted sweet and goofy. We asked the usual questions: house trained? Good with children? Dietary needs? And began the adoption process. Toward the end, the staffer mentioned “positive for heart worms” and then slid a treatment sheet under my eyes. My heart stopped. Weeks of pills, painful injections, more weeks of almost complete crate rest.
I could not do this. I could not not do this.
We drove the pup home and got her set up as best we could. I expected her to whine through the night. She did not. Instead, I kept myself awake: a stranger was in our house. One I’d no idea how to be with or how to care for. The name given the pup at the shelter didn’t quite fit her. I thought if I could find a name that felt like the pup, maybe I could begin to know how to care for her. I spent a sleepless night going through the alphabet, searching. By morning, I’d narrowed it down to three names, and, with David, chose Maddie in honor of one of our favorite writers, Madeleine L’Engle who knew the importance of naming and whose novels boasted some awesome dogs.
And there was more: the shelter staff told us Maddie was afraid of other dogs. Because we had no plans to get another dog, I didn’t see that as a problem—until I took her for a walk. She couldn’t make it to the end of the street before scrambling back to our door in a panic. I had visualized her accompanying us on our walks. What now?
It’s been seven weeks now. Maddie has finished her first round of medication. In a few days, she gets her first injection, followed by weeks of crate rest, another injection, a third, and then more crate rest. I’m grateful we’ve had this time for her to explore. She walks the neighborhood now, has made some human and doggie friends, and even deliberately pooped a couple of times outside the fence of a particularly aggressive dog. She has a home and a family. And food she doesn’t have to scavenge (although she doesn’t consider our morning walk complete without at least one cicada snack). Our daughters buy Maddie treats, toys, and necessities. They share Maddie stories with their friends, so she has global support. David plays with her, tossing toys into the air; she jumps and scrambles after them, tail beating the air with joy. All this will strengthen Maddie, I hope, for the difficulties to come.
I mentioned earlier that the urge to adopt Maddie morphed into marching orders. That’s often my experience of God: as a General who shows up, gives me an assignment, and proceeds on to other needed work. For the Maddie marching order, I am grateful—for Maddie, for myself, for my husband, for my daughters, for all the people cheering for her. I guess I don’t have to always be up for what I’m to do. Just willing.
How do you visualize God? Has God given you an assignment you didn’t feel up for? How did it turn out? We would love to hear from you. Share your Soul & Solace thoughts at contact@aspaciousplace.com.
My high-school health teacher assigned me a research project on abortion. Surprising, right, for a seventies military school in the deep south? Still, that was the assignment, and as research material, she suggested what was commonly known as the “little yellow book” and whose actual title was “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex: But Were Afraid to Ask.” I relayed the information to my mother and was met with pursed lips and a gaze of steel. Nevertheless, she purchased the book and placed it into my hands with a command as from on high: “Only read the chapter on abortion. Do NOT read any more of that…thing.”
I, of course, read the book cover to cover: a fact my mother knew and expressed disgust about. Since that time, I’ve made healthy, informed decisions about sex due, in part, to the little yellow book, and also, in part, to my upbringing.
So why am I sharing this pearl from my days of youth? Two reasons, really: both tied to choice. First relates to parenting. Parents ought not be the sole selectors of their children’s reads. Why? Because 1) caring parents are hard-wired to protect their offspring (to my mother’s mind, knowing about sex would lead to acting on that knowledge and down the slippery slope I would go), and, while protection is necessary, so is challenge. Youth need to read books that stretch their perspectives, that trouble their preconceptions, that fire their imaginations, and that show them their potential: for good or ill. Also, 2) parents are people, and, as such, have limits. That’s why we need pediatricians, school teachers, and librarians. At some point, we parents need to trust these professionals to care about, and to care for, our children.
The second reason is tied to recent legislation restricting choice, including Texas’ book-banning legislation (largely focused on books about race and gender), which purports to support parents’ rights.
Perhaps the rights of some hand-picked parents. Certainly, not all parents. But even so, the point is not parents’ rights: it is children’s rights. The right to learn what will feed their souls. The right to find in the library a wealth and diversity of readings to blow their minds with possibility. Because, in the end, children of caring parents will, in turn, care what their parents believe. A book on the banned list could well be a key that opens a deep family conversation about values and choices. Let’s not be so fearful of another’s perspective that we shut down the possibility of such teachable moments. Does banning The Cider House Rules lead a woman to make compassionate, informed choices? Or a man to respect the consequences of his desire for the woman—or young girl—involved? Whatever our position on abortion, or any other ethical conundrum, does denying knowledge of differing perspectives result in healthy, informed choice for anyone?
Choices that restrict the choices of others carry serious consequences: not made any less serious because the choice-restrictors refuse to see them.
I offer this pearl from my teen years as a plea: let us, as creative people, take a stand for books, for knowledge, for imagination, for selfhood—and for choice itself. We stand at a crossroads in this nation. Let‘s together choose the path that leads to choice for all.
What are your thoughts on choice, on reading, on parenting? We would love to hear from you. Share your Soul & Solace thoughts at contact@aspaciousplace.com.
To support “a world in which all children can see themselves in the pages of a book,” check out We Need Diverse Books: https://diversebooks.org/.
Concerned about other restrictions on our choices and rights? The ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center work to defend the liberties of all U.S. Americans and to combat injustice and hatred. You can learn more about them at https://www.aclu.org/ and https://www.splcenter.org/ , respectively.
