Welcome to Common Hours

I’ve been thinking a bit lately about what I’m doing—or rather, trying to do—here. My thoughts take shape in a variety of directions, and I don’t feel like I have a niche. Am I a spiritual writer? A homeschool blogger? A creative counselor? A book sharer? All of these, to some extent at least.

I’ve been trying to put my finger on the connective tissue in what spills onto the page here, and what keeps coming to mind is formation: the slow shaping of a life through habits, attention, and love, lived out in home, books, creativity, and meaningful work.

So welcome to my newly retitled Substack: Common Hours. You won’t find that anything has changed, really. It’s just a name change. But names matter, as Shakespeare and Anne Shirley knew well. I’m still going to be writing about books, home, nature, home education, how to walk forward in grace in this life, why creativity matters, and rest.

These topics feel small, I grant that. Common. But they do matter. Because at the end of the day, we are how we spend our time. We are what we give our attention to. And if we can’t find it within ourselves to seek formation, to seek the slow shaping of our selves through daily encounters with beauty and holiness, with what brings us comfort and joy, then what are we even doing?

So welcome to Common Hours. Thank you for joining me here.

Allow me to leave you with a short benediction:

As you go about your common hours, with its tasks ordinary and extraordinary, may you find joy in the work you’ve been gifted to do. May you see the face of Christ in all whom you encounter. May you be blessed by unexpected moments of beauty and peace. And may you be give the grace to be a blessing. Amen.