Rev. Chani's Blog

I went to a solstice celebration this past Friday night. In a circle of 18 women we celebrated and felt into the longest night. We stepped fully into what keeps us in the shadows, hidden from others and ourselves and what allows us to step into our power, our light our individuality.

A Sukkot Reflection A friend called me about a month ago asking to meet. She had something personal she wanted to share. When we met, she explained that she recently found out that she was a “highly sensitive” person. What that means is that she experiences acute physical, mental, and emotional responses to stimuli.  Here […]

As many of you know on June 25th, 2017 I got injured and have been suffering from PCS (post-concussion syndrome). As I struggled to figure out how to take care of the symptoms, I finally took two months to heal, reflect, retreat in order to come up with a plan for going forward.

“There is a knife sticking out of my heart and a constant trickle of blood comes out… every so often the knife gets moved, twisted and the blood gushes out. I do my job at work, take care of what I need to at home, do the shopping and the errands and marvel that no one sees that I am leaving a trail of blood behind me.” This is what a woman at a support group meeting said in explaining what it felt like when her child didn’t let her know that she had given birth.

A few days ago, I was watching a short clip with Ellen DeGeneres and Sandra Bullock, Bullock was talking about a difficult time she had when her father and her two dogs died within weeks of each other. She said: Life Happens, Whether You Schedule For It Or Not!

The High Holidays are upon us and although I have not kept in touch much (since I am still healing from my concussion) I feel compelled to write something… to share… to connect….

I was asked today, “What is the essence of Rosh Hashana?”  I think that I answer it differently every year, perhaps even every day. This is how I am answering it today.