PATTY JOSLYN
backstory
ru•mi•nate
For much of my life, I have tried to make and maintain connection with the Great Spirit. My introduction to
the mandala (center + circle + wholeness = sacred art) began in 1997, with creative spiritual teacher Caryn
Levin McCloskey. For years a small circle of women studied an array of disciplines to explore ways into
center. We focused on the Chakras system, the Four Fold Way, Tarot (visual intuition), Enneagrams, Drum
Journeys; ways to open inner channels, to listen and act with integrity and truth. (Bridges between the seen
and unseen world.) The teachings and practice a way to connect with others but more importantly to
connect with self in relationship to Spirit. (To come back to center.) We sat in silence, set intentions, asked to
be inspired, listened to, and honored.
I first thought of myself as a writer when pregnant at a young age. The birth of my first born son, one of the
absolute loves of my life, inspired me to continue. Writing has saved me in many ways; for this I am both
thankful and blessed. In July 2007 I gave myself a birthday gift: a writing workshop with Natalie Goldberg
in New Mexico. My second retreat to Taos, November of 2008, is when Daniel Ladinsky’s Love Poems from
God came into my hands, life, practice, and heart. I am aware I write my heart better than I speak it, and this
too is blemished.
God was a word I resisted when spoken as if it was the only One or Way. I was raised in a family with
beliefs entwined with the Catholic Church. (Our Lady of Good Counsel in a small town in Massachusetts)
My parent’s commitment for myself and my sisters; we were to be confirmed into the faith of the church,
then we could make choice. I thought it odd at the time but later honored what this meant for my parents.
I suggested to them My church was a place of tall trees. I have come to accept the word God as a word/way
to connect, which is the very thing I aspire to.
With this book, ru•mi•nate, I hope to come full circle, like the mandalas, included in the book, to embrace
both the intention and the defining of the circle (all things) and the kind offer to go within and yet also to
meet others elsewhere/anywhere in The Great Spirit of Love.
xo
backstory
ru•mi•nate
For much of my life, I have tried to make and maintain connection with the Great Spirit. My introduction to
the mandala (center + circle + wholeness = sacred art) began in 1997, with creative spiritual teacher Caryn
Levin McCloskey. For years a small circle of women studied an array of disciplines to explore ways into
center. We focused on the Chakras system, the Four Fold Way, Tarot (visual intuition), Enneagrams, Drum
Journeys; ways to open inner channels, to listen and act with integrity and truth. (Bridges between the seen
and unseen world.) The teachings and practice a way to connect with others but more importantly to
connect with self in relationship to Spirit. (To come back to center.) We sat in silence, set intentions, asked to
be inspired, listened to, and honored.
I first thought of myself as a writer when pregnant at a young age. The birth of my first born son, one of the
absolute loves of my life, inspired me to continue. Writing has saved me in many ways; for this I am both
thankful and blessed. In July 2007 I gave myself a birthday gift: a writing workshop with Natalie Goldberg
in New Mexico. My second retreat to Taos, November of 2008, is when Daniel Ladinsky’s Love Poems from
God came into my hands, life, practice, and heart. I am aware I write my heart better than I speak it, and this
too is blemished.
God was a word I resisted when spoken as if it was the only One or Way. I was raised in a family with
beliefs entwined with the Catholic Church. (Our Lady of Good Counsel in a small town in Massachusetts)
My parent’s commitment for myself and my sisters; we were to be confirmed into the faith of the church,
then we could make choice. I thought it odd at the time but later honored what this meant for my parents.
I suggested to them My church was a place of tall trees. I have come to accept the word God as a word/way
to connect, which is the very thing I aspire to.
With this book, ru•mi•nate, I hope to come full circle, like the mandalas, included in the book, to embrace
both the intention and the defining of the circle (all things) and the kind offer to go within and yet also to
meet others elsewhere/anywhere in The Great Spirit of Love.
xo