Live Virtual Group Session: 12PM EDT August 5th 2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this session!

For this session we took a close look at a photo taken by Kathleen Sullivan and read the poem Breakage” by Mary Oliver, posted below.

Our prompt was: Tell a story of the broken and then opened.

Participants are warmly encouraged to share what you wrote below (“Leave a Reply”), to keep the conversation going here, bearing in mind that the blog of course is a public space where confidentiality is not assured.

Also, we would love to learn more about your experience of these sessions, so if you’re able, please take the time to fill out a follow-up survey of one to two quick questions!

Please join us for our next session Friday September 11th at 12pm EDT, with more times listed on our Live Virtual Group Sessions.

Photo credit: Kathleen Sullivan


Breakage” by Mary Oliver

I go down to the edge of the sea. 
How everything shines in the morning light! 
The cusp of the whelk, 
the broken cupboard of the clam, 
the opened, blue mussels, 
moon snails, pale pink and barnacle scarred— 
and nothing at all whole or shut, but tattered, split, 
dropped by the gulls onto the gray rocks and all the moisture gone. 
It’s like a schoolhouse 
of little words, 
thousands of words. 
First you figure out what each one means by itself, 
the jingle, the periwinkle, the scallop 


       full of moonlight.Then you begin, slowly, to read the whole story.   

Credit: Mary Oliver. Source: Poetry (August 2003)

2 thoughts on “Live Virtual Group Session: 12PM EDT August 5th 2026

  1. michele348's avatar michele348

    A story of the broken and then opened~~~

    I am here, lying broken, overwhelmed by confusion, anger, and hate.

    Every day seems like the previous…confusing and dark.

    I go to my wooded area and spot a worn-looking box turtle struggling to make its way through the brush. It seems undaunted by life’s obstacles.

    So, who am I to complain? I have been gifted with much from the Creator. But sometimes, I feel I have lost my sense of gratitude.

    I must open my heart to the bounty of love and compassion that still exists in this fragile world.

    I must rejoice and be glad.

    Like

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