Egos Anonymous Reflections — Egos Anonymous

“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul.” — Kathleen Norris, Amazing Grace Many of us learned to pray as a form of negotiation. We asked for outcomes to change, for clarity to arrive, for discomfort to ease. Self-will

Wendy Etter 3/13/26 Wendy Etter 3/13/26

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“Willpower cannot heal what fear and shame have built.” — Anonymous Many of us believed that trying harder would finally bring relief. If we were disciplined enough, vigilant enough, strong enough, we could outgrow our anxiety, our

Wendy Etter 3/12/26 Wendy Etter 3/12/26

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“Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves.” — Etty Hillesum Many of us were taught that our primary responsibility was to manage what happens outside of us—to fix, persuade, secure, anti

Wendy Etter 3/11/26 Wendy Etter 3/11/26

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“It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey.” — Wendell Berry , Real Work Many of us were trained to know what to

Wendy Etter 3/10/26 Wendy Etter 3/10/26

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“You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen.” — Franz Kafka Attention is not the same as effort. It doesn’t strain or reach. It simply stays. When attention is offered without agenda, something in t

Wendy Etter 3/9/26 Wendy Etter 3/9/26

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“Be melting snow—wash yourself of yourself.” — Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks Much of what feels heavy in us is not pain itself, but the effort of holding a fixed shape. We may cling to roles, opinions, and stories because they

Wendy Etter 3/8/26 Wendy Etter 3/8/26

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“Where there is no love, put love—and you will draw love out.” — St. John of the Cross Much of what we call effort may sometimes be self-protection. We brace, explain, manage, or withdraw because something in us doesn’t feel safe e

Wendy Etter 3/7/26 Wendy Etter 3/7/26

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“Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention.” — Tara Brach Some of our suffering may arise from feeling unseen — by others, by life, even by ourselves. At times, we may move quickly or stay distracted

Wendy Etter 3/6/26 Wendy Etter 3/6/26

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$“All creation is a song of praise.” — Hildegard of Bingen It can be easy to forget this when life feels heavy or fractured. Attention narrows to what is wrong, what is missing, what needs repair. And yet, even in its complexity, li$

Wendy Etter 3/5/26 Wendy Etter 3/5/26

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“The heart is not like a box that gets filled up. It expands in size the more you love.” — David Whyte Much of our effort can come from the assumption that love is scarce—that it has to be protected, rationed, or earned. For some o

Wendy Etter 3/4/26 Wendy Etter 3/4/26

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“The real ‘work’ of prayer is to become silent and listen to the voice that says good things about me.” — Henri J.M. Nouwen So much of our inner effort can be driven by fear — fear of being judged, fear of being wrong, fear of not

Wendy Etter 3/3/26 Wendy Etter 3/3/26

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“The eye with which I see God is the same eye with which God sees me.”     — Meister Eckhart We often imagine seeing and being seen as two separate movements: I look for God; God looks at me. Yet it may be that t

Wendy Etter 3/2/26 Wendy Etter 3/2/26

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“Mysticism is the art of union with Reality.”    — Evelyn Underhill Mysticism is not presented here as escape, but as union — a quiet participation in what is most real. Much of what we call spiritual work may not be

Wendy Etter 3/1/26 Wendy Etter 3/1/26

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“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” — Annie Dillard, The Writing Life The spiritual life does not unfold somewhere else. It unfolds here — in the texture of the day we are actually living. The ego looks fo

Wendy Etter 2/28/26 Wendy Etter 2/28/26

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“Contemplation is a sudden gift of awareness, an awakening to the Real within us.” — Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation Step Eleven is not about acquiring a new spiritual skill. It is about consenting to what may have always

Wendy Etter 2/27/26 Wendy Etter 2/27/26

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“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the earth.” — Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness Step Ten returns us to the ordinary. The ego often prefers dramatic transformation — a clear before and after,

Wendy Etter 2/26/26 Wendy Etter 2/26/26

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“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” — Maya Angelou Step Nine is where willingness meets action. After acknowledging where our self-protection has affected others, we begin to consider wha

Wendy Etter 2/25/26 Wendy Etter 2/25/26

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“To love well is the task in all meaningful relationships.” — bell hooks, All About Love Step Eight invites us to see that love is not only an interior feeling but also a way of being responsible for the impact of our lives. Much of

Wendy Etter 2/24/26 Wendy Etter 2/24/26

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“Grace fills empty spaces, but it can only enter where there is a void to receive it.”   — Simone Weil Step Seven invites us to notice how full our hands are. They may be full of certainty, effort, self-protection, and th

Wendy Etter 2/23/26 Wendy Etter 2/23/26

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“You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”  — Mary Oliver Many of us begin to notice how much effort goes into maintaining certain versions of ourselves. Identities that once helped us survive—being

Wendy Etter 2/22/26 Wendy Etter 2/22/26

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