...yawning at home before the fire of life
This site is full of things that interest me and that I’ve created—photos I’ve taken; a few of my short stories and poems; blog posts about this & that; info about spiritual direction and my music. I named the site “Sleep on the Hearth” in reference to one of my favorite poems, D. H. Lawrence’s “Pax”….
Jen steps up to the yellow line on the train platform, thinking that today she’ll make an appointment, get herself checked out to make sure nothing’s wrong. Rule out anything serious, so she can stop worrying. As if to confirm the wisdom of this idea, it happens again. Her neck makes that sound as she turns her head to look into the train tunnel. It sounds like a butcher knife scraped across cartilage. No! she thinks in the general direction of her Neuron Jumper implant, I don’t like that image. Give me a different one. She turns her head and hears the sound again, no different, but this time the image that comes to mind is of fingers sliding across a keyboard—brrrrrroop, with trilled r’s. It’s artsy and creative, and not at all creepy. Better, she thinks. In a Jumper subroutine, the fingers-sliding-across-keyboard simile gets a plus one. Even if Jen can’t make the sound stop, she can at least shape the […]
I love the shapes of the paths in Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve, where I went this morning. Note the small rock spiral at the bottom of this photo, and the Burning Man shape at the top right.
For more about becoming a spiritual director, see “5 steps to becoming a spiritual director.” Many seminaries and retreat centers offer training programs…here are a few that I’m familiar with in the United States….
My album Go in Peace, which includes ten of my original songs, came out in March 2013—the realization of a long-held dream! To read more about the CD and listen to some short samples, see the album notes. If you’d like to purchase my music, I hope you’ll buy a CD directly from me, either in person or by emailing me. By purchasing directly from me, you pay less than you would through a reseller like Amazon, and more of your money makes its way to me. Win-win! Purchasing Interested in purchasing my music? Thank you! I’m very grateful—every sale means a lot to me. Buy a CD directly from me in person, or contact me at kat@sleeponthehearth.com. CDs: By purchasing your CD directly from me, you pay less than you would through a reseller like Amazon, and more of your money will make its way to me. Win-win! MP3s: Visit iTunes or Amazon. […]
My CD release concert on May 18th was wonderful—it was a rich experience for me on many levels, and I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did. I performed the ten songs from Go in Peace with Bobby Medcalf on drums and Tess Evans Clark on guitar and vocals. My niece Kristina Dunworth made a special appearance on “Kristina’s Song,” the song I wrote for her a few days before she was born in 1995. (Hey, she’s taller than I am!) College Avenue Presbyterian Church hosted us, and about 50 people were there…15 of them my family members, to be sure. 🙂 I’m so grateful to my husband Gene Anderson for all the work he did making the sound system work absolutely perfectly, carrying equipment hither and thither, and doing countless other needed tasks, and to everyone else who helped and supported me and us in this […]
If you feel that you might have a calling as a spiritual director, the first step is to begin seeing a spiritual director yourself.
Step 1: Find your own spiritual director….
The ten songs on my 2013 album Go in Peace are available on iTunes and Amazon, or you can buy the whole CD directly from me for $10 plus shipping. If you’d like to learn more, check out these listening samples and lyrics for Go in Peace.
Album credits Words and music by Katarina Stenstedt Vocals, guitars, bass, and keyboard by Katarina Stenstedt Drums and percussion by Bobby Medcalf Vocal harmony on “Kristina’s Song” by the lovely and talented Kristina Dunworth Produced by Bobby Medcalf and Katarina Stenstedt Recorded and engineered by Gene Anderson Mastered by Masaki Photography and album design by Gene Anderson About the album Gene, Bobby and I recorded every sound on Go in Peace in the living room of Gene’s and my house in the Oakland hills. We used a Roland VS-1880 digital recorder—a dinosaur with no computer interface. (Next album, ProTools!) Each time we’d record, one of us would jog down to the basement and flip the breaker to turn off the refrigerator so it wouldn’t hum and rumble in the background. We’d turn off the phone’s ringer and hope neither of the cats was about to launch into an inexplicable, crazed […]
Go in peace, you are loved, you are lovedGo in peace, you are lovedGo with God, you are loved, you are lovedGo with God, you are loved The God who wove you in the darkthe one whose rough hands made your hearthad you in mind before the dawn of timeThe one who gazed with gentle eyesat all the colors of your life–Before the threads were dyed,the artist saw your life Go in peace, you are loved, you are lovedGo in peace, you are lovedGo with God, you are loved, you are lovedGo with God, you are loved Back at the house you started fromyour God has left the porch light onhowever late the hour, you’ll find the wayOh, welcome, then! back to the lightin from the dark of mortal strifeinto the house of gracewhere love lives, take your place Go in peace, you are loved, you are lovedGo in peace, […]