Terry’s Speaking Topics

Everyone has a sanctuary. If only in our mind. Even if we can’t name it, we know of its power. It is a place where you do not owe anyone and where no one owes you.  We are wired to need grounding and renewal and less hurry.  And yet, we make choices—with our time and with our days—that are detrimental to our emotional and spiritual well-being. In sanctuary, we let this life in. Every bit. In sanctuary we can be wholehearted; whether grief or gladness or sadness or joy. We make space to see and to be seen. We make space to welcome, to offer comfort and hope.

There will always be some voice telling me that whoever I am today is not enough. The challenge is accepting the reality that every one of us has the capacity for bounteousness. Yes, we want to love other people without holding back. We want to feel authentic. We want to breathe in the beauty around us. And yet; we listen to inner voices that keep our life small. We live stuck. But what if we are truly the light of the world, a light already inside of us—as Jesus said—and we were meant to shine? What if, as children of God, there are resources to draw upon—a reservoir of kindness, compassion, hope and resilience?

We know that we should love one another; practice kindness and compassion. But here’s the deal: love can only spill from a heart that has been softened and in most cases broken.  There is no doubt that when faced with tragedy or chaos or uncertainty or misfortune, we want to have a “handle” on it, or fix it, or make it go away.  Terry teaches us how to live and love from a soft heart—the permission to see the world–this day–through the eyes of our heart.  It happens when…
…we allow ourselves to feel, fully and wholly
…without a need to defend, justify or explain,
…we allow ourselves to receive love, compassion and kindness without suspicion,
…we are free to embrace an extraordinary core of strength and courage that resides inside of us, and let it spill to those around us.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed, only to add one more thing to your to-do list?

Have you ever wished for an extra day in your week, or an extra hour in your day?

Have you ever been in a conversation, and realized you weren’t even there?

Have you been pulled in so many directions that you don’t feel at home in your own skin?

If so, it’s time to learn to pause.  Join Terry for the permission to become more by doing less.  This is not about time management.  It’s about letting our souls catch up with our bodies.   Practical and humorous, Terry will teach us

• how to wear an “I’m Closed” sign,
• how to Lose What We Don’t Need,
• how to Make Space to Hear the Heart,
• how to find Miracles in the Mundane,
• and how to Celebrate a bawdy, unkempt spirit and an untidy, misunderstood God who fills us with Grace and Transformation.

In our hearts, we are all dancers. God wants us to be our true selves – joyous, aware and living each moment with arms wide open, responding to the love of the Beloved.  So why do we choose to live guarded and afraid, our days filled with hurry and noise?  Fear labels and dismisses and restricts. The voice of GRACE tells us that we are more than our labels.  More than our fear.  The Hopi say, “To watch us dance is to hear our heart speak.”  So.  In this workshop, let’s dance.  Terry will help us learn,

• what it means to dance free from our limitations of fear, insecurity, or pain.
• and how, in the eyes of the Beloved, we are free to love, free to serve, and free to live

Join Terry as we dance for laughter, for tears, for madness, for fears, for hopes and for screams.  We are dancers, we create the dreams.

The truth is that intimacy has little to do with the other person.  Intimacy begins with me.  Most of us don’t want intimacy, we want security.  Because intimacy is about openness, vulnerability and risk.  And vulnerability can hurt.  Why are we afraid to be real?  What does it mean to be real, to be honest or open?  What do we desire in our relationships?  And why do we settle for less? Why do we give up a part of ourselves for security?  How do we name our fears and move beyond them?  Is it possible to find a relationship with someone who is afraid of intimacy?

How do we nourish our inner life — and find strength even when trust is betrayed?

How do we practice a love built on a foundation of kindness, appreciation, sensitivity, and attention?

Intimacy begins with me.

We live perpetually out of breath and out of time. And we moan and complain. All the while buying more gadgets guaranteed to help us catch up. Slowing down is, after all, for people who have the time. We are enamored with speed (we want to relax better and faster, to be on the cutting edge of relaxation)! And clamor for more (which is never enough). Why is it that we are afraid of slowness? Or stillness? Or silence? This is a seminar for those of us who want to learn (or practice) the art of doing nothing. It’s about what it takes to slow down.

Learning to sit still.

To relax.

Choosing to practice self-nurturing, self-care and self-responsibility.

And Sabbath—the Biblical injunction that asks us literally, “to waste time with God.”

People who love this world, people who pay attention, are gardeners, whether or not they have ever picked up a trowel. Because gardening is not just about digging. Gardening is about cherishing. And to cherish, one must be present. Garden columnist, Henry Mitchell, wrote that one day we would all die, but that the questions is how we spent our days. Were we fidgeting over moles and fungi and varmints, or glorying, year by year, in the daffodils? Terry talks about –

• Opening our heart to the rhythms of the garden.
• Learning to practice the sacrament of the blessed present.
• Working to embrace the demanding marriage of loving and losing.
• Cultivating appreciation for ordinary gifts of grace, the value of solitude,
• And the healing power of nature. Terry’s stories will lead you to nurture your soul and renew your sense of what it means to live fully alive.