Blog Post

Judith Valente

Michael Kroth • Aug 28, 2020

Judith Valente's Work Is A Continuing Fountain of Wisdom & Guidance

I have become more and more a fan of Judith Valente and her work, starting with when I read the book she and her co-authors Br. Paul Quenon and Michael Bever wrote, The Art of Pausing. The full title is The Art of Pausing: Meditations for the Overworked and Overwhelmed. I sure felt an affinity with that message when I picked it up at little over a year and a half ago.

The Art of Pausing is a book of haiku's the authors wrote, with short reflections about each. I have re-read the book - one haiku a day - twice now, and refer to it often. More importantly, as the authors encouraged, I began writing a haiku a day. I've been pretty consistent too. I estimate that I've written somewhere around 450 haiku's over the last 18 months. It has become a daily, reflective practice, and over the last year I have gotten together with two friends monthly to share and discuss our haiku's (here is a recording of our latest session) .

Much more has come from this haiku writing, but beyond that I've become a follower of Judith's work, reading her weekly Sunday Thoughts on Medium, which are wonderful, and just over the last couple of months have attended two of her online retreats, which were meaningful, engaging and interactive, and introduced me not only to new ideas but interesting and inspiring new people. I also follow her on Facebook. She is so accessible as well, and has encouraged me personally, for which I'm eternally grateful.

I'm now reading her book, How To Live: What the Rule of St. Benedict Teaches Us about Happiness, Meaning, and Community. As I've written before, I've spent time - not a lot, but enough that if there weren't a pandemic these days I'd be retreating to one least a couple of times a year - in monasteries. A few years ago, I wanted to learn more about the practices of these Benedictine monks so I read the entire Rule of Benedict, a chapter each morning, adding my reflections to my journal. Not so profoundly life changing as when I read The Imitation of Christ for the first time, The Rule was nonetheless a powerful and meaningful daily devotional. Now that I am reading Judith's book, I wish I had had How to Live at the time to read along as a companion piece. It would have given me, not a Catholic, just what the back cover says. How to Live is an:

"...engaging, conversational, and filled with anecdotes" book, which "clearly demonstrates how incorporating this ancient wisdom can change the quality and texture of our lives and offers a way forward from the divisions plaguing our country. These fresh and profound explorations are inspiring, thoughtful, and motivational."

I didn't wake up this morning thinking I would write about Judith, but you know how words can flow from fingers to keypad sometimes, as if guided.

If you haven't already, I encourage you to look into Judith Valente. It might be a life-changer for you, as it was for me.

Have I mentioned that I am a huge Judith Valente fan?