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Kathy Donchak

Writer and Recommender of Books

I am a wife, mom, nature, and book lover living in Central Texas. My work is the garden of my interests. The best way to get to know me is to subscribe to my Sunday Letter.

Featured Post

Sunday Letter: Ritual of Gathering

We're all just walking each other home. Ram Dass The Thanksgiving holiday is a chance to gather with loved ones to celebrate autumn. The fruits of the harvest are laid out on tables. The mirroring of fall color accompanied by savory scents as we attempt to create an atmosphere of presence and thoughtfulness. We gather with loved ones, in person or in memory, through the images in our minds and memories in our hearts. Looking back on this weekend, I am reminded how much there is to be...
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6 days ago • 1 min read

Writing Circle Morning Note: Happily Unfinished

Neither are these writings of event or of periods of time exactly, but created out of mood, of reaction to various happenings in the world, and of my own searchings and findings in, if you will allow it, the fields of the spirit.” Consider what is written rather as parts of a conversation, or a long and slowly arriving letter—somewhat disorderly, natural in expression, and happily unfinished." Winter Hours: Prose, Prose Poems, and Poems by Mary Oliver Over the last couple of days, I have been...
13 days ago • 1 min read

Sunday Letter: Let Nature Be Your Teacher

O sacred season of Autumn, be my teacher, for I wish to learn the virtue of contentment. As I gaze upon your full-colored beauty, I sense all about you an at-homeness with your amber riches. You are the season of retirement, of full barns and harvested fields. The cycle of growth has ceased, and the busy work of giving life is now completed. I sense in you no regrets: you’ve lived a full life. I live in a society that is ever-restless, always eager for more mountains to climb, seeking...
13 days ago • 2 min read

Welcome to our Holiday Writing Circle: Week 1: Embracing Gratitude

Welcome to our Holiday Writing Circle! As we approach the holiday season, I'm thrilled to embark on a reflective journey with all of you. This writing circle is a space for us to come together, share, and explore the beauty of the life we are living during this special time of year. Over the next six weeks, we'll delve into a series of themes that capture the essence of the holiday season. Each week, I'll provide you with a carefully crafted journaling prompt designed to guide your...
13 days ago • 2 min read

Sunday Letter: Thoughts for the Journey

image by Annie Spratt​ Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.” Franz Kafka Inviting people into our homes gives them a glimpse into our silent obsessions. The gathered bouquets, furnishings, and seasonal touches invite people into the experience of a home and its owner. The feelings we experience come from the owner's expression of self in their spaces. Part of...
20 days ago • 1 min read

Sunday Letter: Lessons of Life

image by Oliver Hihn​ Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view. Ralph Waldo Emerson The most peaceful place I have ever been is a place I only visit in winter. In winter, the animals that call this place home retreat to warmer places to rest and conserve the energy needed for the months ahead. My first visit to this magical space was filled with the richness of ambient sounds of the swish of my skis as I glided along its trails. I found myself stopping,...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read

Sunday Letter: Communion with Self

The essence of who we are is inexpressible in language, but the yearning for communion with the self is universal. We seek connection to the sacredness within ourselves, that inner yearning that is displayed through our advocacy for others is a step towards the self. Bringing us closer to the natural selves of childhood. Reconnecting with nature invites us into communion with the self, a rejoining of our most natural state within the interconnectedness of the universe. Regardless of the...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read

Sunday Letter: Joy in Defiance of Evil

image by Eran Menashri​ The stories of violence a world away play on in the background of my days, but it isn’t the evil that has my focus. It is the faces of people rich in community, connectedness, and purpose shared by loved ones. The mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters living a life of simple elegance connected to the spirit of the land and each other. Sharing their gifts and being themselves in a community is a testament to how to live a life. Unafraid of the dangers outside their...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read

Sunday Letter: Symbols of Happiness

I thought of happiness, how it is woven Out of the silence in the empty house each day And how it is not sudden and it is not given But is creation itself like the growth of a tree. No one has seen it happen, but inside the bark Another circle is growing in the expanding ring. No one has heard the root go deeper in the dark, But the tree is lifted by this inward work And its plumes shine, and its leaves are glittering.” May Sarton, Collected Poems:The Work of Happiness​ The showy Texas wild...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
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