We're Doing a New Thing!
We Turned 7!
Today marks the 7th anniversary of The Mudroom!
It started with a dream I had to create a space where everyone was welcomed, whether you were a published author or submitting for the first time. It was going to be a place where writers weren't competing for spots in a spirit of scarcity, but inviting and recommending others in creative generosity.
It started small with just a few writers and the tagline "Invest in the Mess," taken from "Long Lost Brother," a song by Over the Rhine. Another collaborative blog disbanded and we caught a few of their writers. I read widely and "discovered" unattached writers willing to throw their lot in with me.
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So tell me your troubles/ let your pain rain down/ I know my job, I've been around/ I invest in the mess/ I'm a low-cost dumping ground [/perfectpullquote]
Seven years in, it's still an honor to be giving people's stories a home and I'm privileged to have such an incredible community of wordsmiths to share it with.
We Launched a Podcast!
A year ago Nichole Woo and I talked about the possibility of doing a podcast. At the time it seemed like a long way off and maybe even a frivolous dream, but we believed (mostly Nichole) that it might actually be feasible. What kept us going was the idea to share more of our writers with you, not just their gorgeous 800-word monthly posts, but their voices—their brilliant, profound, vulnerable, and wise selves that have been limited to a back-lit screen.
For 2022 we had each writer choose a monthly theme. That month the writer who chose the theme will be interviewed for the podcast and record themselves reading their posts. We will host a guest interview once a month as well. We launched it yesterday featuring Chelle A. Wilson on her theme of Evolution.
[embed]https://open.spotify.com/episode/4DQdUZrgHsqh9Xk4E7JQrR?si=000a4f1d2fd04894[/embed]
Up Next:
Suzanne Stabile is a highly sought-after speaker, teacher, and internationally recognized Enneagram master teacher who has taught thousands of people over the last thirty years. She is the author of The Path Between Us, and coauthor, with Ian Morgan Cron, of The Road Back to You. She is also the creator and host of The Enneagram Journey podcast.
Along with her husband, Rev. Joseph Stabile, she is co-founder of Life in the Trinity Ministry, a nonprofit, nondenominational ministry committed to the spiritual growth and formation of adults. Their ministry home, the Micah Center, is located in Dallas, Texas. They have many audio resources available, including The Enneagram Journey curriculum.
Suzanne has spoken at hundreds of colleges, churches, and conferences across America, and also teaches in the Baylor Health Care System. She has taught at Richard Rohr's Center for Action and Contemplation and has taught with Father Rohr to an international audience in Assisi, Italy.
Nichole and I interviewed Suzanne about her new book, The Journey Toward Wholeness: Enneagram Wisdom for Stress, Balance, and Transformation, published by InterVarsity Press. It was such a beautiful time with her and I know you all will love it!!
We Published our 1000th Post!
This distinction goes to Vina Mogg! On December 17th, 2021 we posted her piece, "A Hand Upon the Forehead."
"In Filipino culture, Mano Po is a sign of respect shown to our elders. When greeting a grandparent, the younger takes the hand of the elder and gently taps the back of the hand on the forehead. Mano means hand in Tagalog. Po is a term of respect.
Respect. Obedience. Two terms that do not resonate in current cultural climate. But to me, this gesture reflects the type of love that generates both obedience and respect in ways that we have lost.
As a Filipina born and raised in America I did not naturally practice the gesture of mano po. Looking back as I approach my years as an “elder”, this gesture seems so intimate and endearing– to take the hand of a respected one and rest it on your forehead." Read the rest here.
We Had Fantastic Posts Last Month!
Vina Mogg is inviting you to a revolution against fear:
"This is the fear of God we should walk in.
In awe of who he is. . . .Walk in the promise of a Big God under dark skies.
Live under the command, Fear Not.
This is how to LIVE."
Chelle Wilson declares her favorite four-letter words and her own personal evolution. She writes, "I have finally, FINALLY learned to get out of my own way in order to Watch God Move."
Prasanta Verma turns obedience on its head in her recent piece, "Obey: a Four-Letter-Word": "Jesus didn’t exactly obey every manmade law: he actually disobeyed some of the more stupid ones . . . . Jesus didn’t force people into obedience. He loved them. Love precedes obedience."
Tatyana Claytor wrote, "Inverting Transformation: How Encanto Shows Weakness Is Good," about how vulnerability and transparency can restore the "magic" necessary for transformation.
Nicole T. Walters beautifully transports us to the largest church in the Middle East where she experienced transformation, miracles, and wonder with her family.