Lisa Lundeen

What is this moment? / Life flourishes in the asking.

What catches in your throat? What makes you misty? I love conversations that take us to the bone, cleanse us, and replenish our hope—especially when that means hope that differs from what we expected.

Often that renewed hope emerges from how we come to see our lives with fresh eyes and hearts.

As a clinical healthcare chaplain, my job is to come alongside people in very vulnerable times in their lives. I help patients and families tell their stories, often writing and re-writing, so to speak, as we go.

As a poet and photographer, my task is to share the fruit of my reflection through words and images. I explore relatable themes through the particularities of my own experience.

How I've Learned to Ask the Questions

I could tell you about being the adult child of an alcoholic or going through infidelity with a toddler in tow, but what interests me most is not *what* I've been through, but *how* I've come through it--thriving!

To mark my divorce and my 35th birthday, I, really only a recreational jogger, ran a half marathon. Just as I once had a "Meeting for Worship for Marriage" in the Quaker tradition, I created my own rite of passage to mark the marriage's end--and to celebrate my growth, healing, and independence--with a "Meeting for Worship for Closure and Openings."

My new book, Wood-Solace, or a Return to Belonging, models more of my "how." Early in the pandemic, I experienced the kind of insomnia that drives a person to get out of bed and do something--anything!--instead of just lying there desperate for sleep. Somehow, that "anything" became doodling around with art journals and words, and, ultimately, a daily poetry-writing practice.

Although I have done plenty of academic and professional writing, poetry was new for me: I'd taken a grand total of ONE poetry class, aptly called "Word, Words, and Transformation," when I was in seminary.

What I did have was the conviction that it’s better to be brave and try than to sit back and wonder what might happen if. On social media I already regularly shared photos from my outdoor forays into parks and gardens, so it was not a huge shift to start posting poems as well. I wanted to normalize taking risks, to embody the memes that implore us to make art with abandon.

By 2021, I set a goal of getting one poem published. Well, I had several poems published, won a small contest, got selected to be an adult mentee in a state poetry society mentoring program…and my successful chapbook submission ultimately became a full-length book! All because I keptdaring to share my work.

Somewhere along the way, I came across a promotion for one of Nadia Colburn’s free five-day writing challenges, and I was hooked. Through several of her online courses, Nadia has helped me to integrate my past experience with mediation and centering prayer with my new practice of writing, promoting a more holistic, embodied practice.

What I Can Bring to You

I am a genuine, friendly, self-reflective extrovert who serves as a professional conversation partner about life’s most tender and raw experiences. I am also a deep lover of nature and all spaces that invite us into further self-awareness, creativity, and compassion.

Further, I’m a namer: I like to put experiences, feelings, and phenomena into words. In school I studied a little Latin, Spanish, and Chinese, and I am proficient in German. I recognize many plants because I notice nuance, and I love the accessibility of common names in particular.

Similarly, I’m always interested in what is possible with simple equipment and typically use my phone for photography because it’s cheap and convenient. Rather than simply documenting what I've seen, I’m really marveling, “Whoa! Look at this glorious color, these brilliant droplets of water in a cloud of soft petals. Can you believe that this beauty is all an elaborate scheme to lure a pollinator?”

In professional and recreational work, what I am after is relationship.