Light that reaches you only because something stands in the way. Beauty created by obstruction, not absence. I’ve been thinking about that kind of light lately—the kind that doesn’t arrive freely or fully, the kind that has to pass through branches, through resistance, through layers of things that slow it down. Komorebi is the Japanese…
Category: memoir
Peace That Stays
静けさ Shizukesa A stillness that carries weight. Silence that feels inhabited. There is a kind of silence that isn’t empty. It doesn’t rush to be filled. It doesn’t ask for music, conversation, or explanation. It simply stays. not empty—just quiet This is not the silence of being ignored or forgotten. It’s not the awkward pause…
Ma: Where Meaning Lives
There is a kind of meaning that doesn’t announce itself. It doesn’t arrive with answers or explanations. It waits in the pause. In Japanese thought, ma speaks to that space—the silence, the gap, the breath between moments. Not as emptiness. Not as absence. But as presence. A presence we often rush past because it doesn’t…
The Words We Never Hear
I came across a post recently—just a few lines my nephew wrote for his spouse on their anniversary. It wasn’t long. It wasn’t dramatic. But it stopped me. The kind of words that name partnership, gratitude, and choice so plainly that they settle deep before you realize what’s happening. I found myself tearing up, not…
Dear 2026
We’re stepping into you without a clean slate. We’re bringing unfinished conversations, tired hearts, quiet hopes, and lessons we didn’t ask to learn but learned anyway. Some of us are coming in stronger. Some softer. Some carrying grief so gently it almost looks like calm. Some still learning that healing doesn’t always need an explanation….
More Than a Tap
When was the last time we actually stayed with something? Not just noticed it. Not just reacted to it. But read it slowly. Let it linger. Let it sit with us for a moment longer than a scroll. We live in a world of instant responses. A heart. A thumbs-up. A quick tap that says…
Subtle Strength
She is not loud, but she is deep… She is the kind of person who notices small things — not because life has been gentle with her, but because she learned early that meaning often hides in quiet places. She carries faith not as a performance, but as a compass. God is not a concept…
Genesis 28:16
Surely the Lord Is in This Place “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I was not aware of it.” —Genesis 28:16 Most of us don’t struggle to believe God exists. We struggle to notice Him. We expect God to arrive in clear moments—answered prayers, quiet sanctuaries, well-formed words. We look for Him in places…
God Lives Where?
We grow up learning to call a building God’s house. We lower our voices when we walk in. We sit straighter. We try to behave a little better. And while reverence is good, sometimes the idea settles in too deeply—that God is somehow more present there than He is anywhere else. But Scripture tells a…
Becoming Small
There’s a kind of greatness the world applauds. And then there’s the kind God notices. I’ve been thinking about how often Jesus spoke about becoming small—not invisible, not erased, but willing. Willing to be humbled. Willing to serve. Willing to loosen our grip on needing to be seen or affirmed. “If you want to be…
Charina.Writes 