The Reflective Pen

Simple Wisdom – Because Life Can Be Complicated

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  • Spiritual Growth

    Walking away from religion

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    Walking away from faith isn’t failure—it can be wisdom. Explore how aging brings authenticity, freedom, and new ways of finding the sacred.

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    Ardis Mayo
  • Spiritual Growth

    Finding Sacred in Everyday Life

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    man who knows how to live fully lifts his arms to the sunset

    What if we’ve been looking for the sacred in everyday life in all the wrong places? We’re often taught to expect holiness in stained glass and silence, in…

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    Ardis Mayo
  • Dekker,  Life Challenges

    Wisdom from Dekker

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    Dekker, the dog who has a lot of wisdom

    When the Days Are Slow and the Heart Is Full, As I, Dekker the ever-faithful, stretch out beside my person’s feet (finally!), I must tell you something: she...

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    Ardis Mayo
  • Aging

    The Music of Rest

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    Dekker sleeps on organ pedals, rest

    Where is the rest in your life? Not the vacation kind. Not sleep, exactly. But rest as a rhythm. As part of the music of your days.

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    Ardis Mayo
  • Aging

    WHERE GRACE HIDES

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    An old lady wears a colorful red and yellow striped sobrero, perhaps to celebrate aging. Grace

    What does grace look like when our bodies betray us? It’s an uncomfortable question—one we often avoid. We speak of grace as if it always arrives clean and…

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    Ardis Mayo
  • Aging,  Life Challenges

    ALL LIFE HAS MEANING

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    a man walks a labrynth, perhaps he is looking to feed a hungry soul. Ardis Mayo, meaning of life

    All Life Has Meaning. First in a 5-part series. from The Reflective Pen Manifesto. Suppose for a moment that all of life—not just the “good parts”—had meaning.

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    Ardis Mayo
  • Aging,  Life Challenges

    When Everyone Is Dying

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    dog with his chin on the floor feeling grief and loss and question the purpose of living. facing an obstacle with no solution.everyone is dying

    What do we do when everyone seems to be dying? Lately, that question has followed me from week to week. I’ve been to six funerals in the past…

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    Ardis Mayo
  • Dekker

    Wisdom from Dekker

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    Dekker the Service Dog waits by a fog with mist

    As I, Dekker the Service Dog, settle in with my nose tucked under one paw and the other stretched out just far enough to feel the cool tile,…

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    Ardis Mayo
  • Aging,  Life Challenges

    A Reflection on Aging

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    A dachshund using willpower to carry a stick much bigger than he is

    There was a time—long ago—when carrying groceries wasn’t even part of the conversation. At 26, I was learning to carry something far heavier: a diagnosis.

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    Ardis Mayo
  • Aging,  Creativity

    The Story We Carry and the Ones We Let Go

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    story memories have weight

    The Story We Carry and the Ones We Let Go - What If Memories Had Weight?Not the kind you can step on a scale and measure—but something else.…

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    Ardis Mayo
  • Life Challenges

    The Beauty of Boredom-Embracing Slow Days as Spiritual Space

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    man waiting in reflective practice, doubt and prayer - boredom; holes

    What if boredom isn’t a problem to solve—but an invitation? We’re taught early on that boredom means something’s wrong. We should be doing more, moving faster, staying busy.…

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    Ardis Mayo
  • Dekker

    Wisdom from Dekker: What Our Pets Leave Behind (and What They Don’t)

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    Dekker, the dog who has a lot of wisdom

    Wisdom from Dekker: What Our Pets Leave Behind (and What They Don’t) As I, known by all as Dekker, lie in my favorite sunspot by the window, I…

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    Ardis Mayo
  • Spiritual Growth

    Gardening as a Teacher of Prayer–The Rhythm of Planting, Pruning, and Waiting

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    yellow flower as example of a tiny thing held in cupped hands, gardening prayer

    Gardening as a Teacher of Prayer--The Rhythm of Planting, Pruning, and ... Suppose prayer isn’t something you say at all. Suppose it’s something you grow — quietly, stubbornly,…

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    Ardis Mayo
  • Aging,  Life Challenges

    Old Pets, New Lessons

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    A contemplative dog rests his chin on the sheets as he ponders the purpose of living. Old pet

    I had a dog once who waited for me to come home from the hospital, even though no one had explained where I’d gone. He simply waited. On…

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    Ardis Mayo
  • Aging,  Spiritual Growth

    Prayer – How Does It Change With Age?

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    Being still holding a cup of tea, looking for peace and resilience; prayer

    Some mornings, I sit with my hands wrapped around a mug of tea and realize I haven’t spoken a single word. Not to another soul. Not even in…

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    Ardis Mayo
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Recent posts

  • Child's hands in prayerWhen Prayer Becomes Silence
    Life Challenges, Spiritual Growth
  • man waiting in reflective practice, doubt and prayer - boredom; holesThe Curious Case of Holes
    Creativity, Life Challenges
  • Dekker, service dog posing on granite slabTHINGS I WISH SOMEONE HAD TOLD ME
    Dekker, Life Challenges
  • a cat with with a fear of missing out leaning out a window Ardis Mayo, the stories we tell ourselves too lateToo Late?
    Aging, Life Challenges
  • A black dog with a yellow cap, clumsy, not gracefulIf Not Grace, Then What?
    Aging

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