bits of who I am...

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In sharing my photographs and reflections about life,  I hope to give you a deeper sense of who I am-- beyond certifications, credentials, titles, and the usual cultural measurements. (listed at the bottom of this page...)
For I believe our culture has lost sight of the essence of who we are, not our outer selves, but our inner selves-- our embodied Soul.

The original, shimmering self gets buried so deep that most of us end up hardly living out of it at all.  Instead we live out all the other selves, which we are constantly putting on and taking off like coats and hats against the world's weather.  Frederick Buechner

Life as Paradox

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I have experienced great loss as well as great joy in my life.  I believe that the richest in life exists in the paradox and tension of opposites.  There is gift in seeking to live life in the midst of "both/and"  rather than "either/or."  For our greatest gifts are often our greatest burdens, and our greatest joys are often inextricably intertwined with our greatest sorrow.  To live in the midst of paradox is to engage with the fullness of this human life, where all is one and one is all...

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises 
was oftentimes 
filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Kahlil Gibran

life in communion

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I believe that our world is infinitely connected in ways we cannot begin to comprehend.  Nature speaks to my soul and beckons me to connect with the Divine.  In honoring the inseparability of my life from all other living creatures, my life is enriched and enlarged. A sense of humility emerges when one realizes how small we are, yet how intertwined our lives are with the world around us.  The natural world has much to teach us, for I have found wisdom resides  in unexpected places...

... ask the animals, and they will teach you.  
The birds of the air, 
and they will tell you 
Ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you;
And the fish of the sea 
will declare to you.  
Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Creator has done this?  In the Creator's hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being.  Job 12:7-10

All photographs on this website are my own,
with the exception of the photo of me... 
Taking photographs brings me into the moment, 
increasing my awareness, 
creating a deeper sense of connection  
with the world around me.

Life as a pilgrimage...

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I like to imagine life as a pilgrimage, where in our quest for wholeness and healing, we are forever wandering, seeking, exploring, changing.  Phil Cousineau defines pilgrimage as, "a transformative journey to a sacred center."  I hope that our lives might hold that transformative potential, if we create the time and space to tend to and engage with our souls.   Rather than live our lives as tourists, scurrying from place to place, taking in the highlights; we live our lives as pilgrims, engaging with life at a deeper level, immersing ourselves in the moment.   

“Your soul knows the geography of your destiny. Your soul alone has the map of your future, therefore you can trust this indirect, oblique side of yourself. If you do, it will take you where you need to go, but more important it will teach you a kindness of rhythm in your journey.”  

Wendell Berry


life as a dance

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Throughout our lives we dance an endless series of dances, within ourselves, within our relationships, within the world in which we live, move, and have our being.  Sometimes the dance is a slow meandering waltz, other times it is a frenetic whirling dervish.  What matters is that we engage in the dance, for life is the dance.

                                                          At the still point                  of the turning world 
Neither flesh nor fleshless
Neither from nor towards;
at the still point, 
there the dance is.
But neither arrest 
nor movement
And do not call it fixity
Where past and future 
are gathered.
Neither movement from 
nor towards
Neither ascent nor decline.
Except for the point,
the still point 
There would be no dance,and      there is only the dance.  
                                                          T. S. Eliot                       

Life as Mystery

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  I  believe much of life is mystery, for  we cannot comprehend the expansiveness and magnificence of this Universe in which we live, and which lives in us.  As a dear friend 
says when faced with our limited human understanding, "it is beyond, beyond."  For me, three words contain the deepest mystery--  love, God,  and death.  All three are beyond definition, and I am to seek neither comprehension, nor definition, rather I am to open myself
​to the mystery and live into it.                                                                          
                              
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.  We are spiritual beings having a human experience. 
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

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Cynthia’s journey includes the death of her first husband, as well as her own near death experience.   She is devoted to empowering others find wholeness and healing, and thereby live the fullest life possible.  For over 30 years, Cynthia has accompanied individuals and led small groups in spiritual study and reflection. She is a certified Spiritual Director with special interests in dreamwork, Carl Jung, Yoga, the interconnectedness of all creation, and the common threads of major world religions.  For many years, Cynthia was a Mentor and Trainer for the Education for Ministry program, affiliated with the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.  She is a Registered Yoga Teacher, RYT200, with a special interest in the subtle body and offering yoga instruction for those with physical limitations. She has a certification in Accessible Yoga from Jivana Heyman, and has completed Level 1 and 2 Adaptive Yoga training with Matthew Sanford of Mind Body Solutions (MBS).  After additional study, Cynthia received an Opening Yoga Instructor certificate from MBS.  She resides in Richmond, Virginia.

BS. University of Virginia,  Certificate in Spiritual Direction from Haden Institute, Hospital Chaplain 2009-2012, Former Education for Ministry Mentor and Trainer, Member Spiritual Directors International, Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher, RYT200, Opening Yoga Instructor.

              As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence  
                   is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.  Carl Jung