Red Tent Living

Coloring My Roots

By: redtentwomen August 23, 2019August 22, 2019

FemininityBethany Cabell, Gray Hair, Hair, Hair cuts, Life Change4 Comments

Before there was gray, I colored my hair to match the roots. Deep brunette painted golden highlights, bringing warmth to summer kissed skin. Transitioning to fall, a blank canvas disguised the need for a practical solution to the “what ifs” that laid ahead. Looking at myself in the mirror that day brought memories of carefree…

Hiding in Playtime

By: redtentwomen August 22, 2019August 22, 2019

FaithChildhood sexual abuse, Childhood Trauma, Meg P., recovery from childhood abuse, Secrets, Sexual Trauma, Telling Your Secrets8 Comments

As a child, I loved being outside. It was a safe place to be; it was freedom. I could run and yell and get dirty. The smell of sweat and dirt, combined with the never healing skinned knees, was just the sign of a day well spent. I didn’t worry when I was free. Fear…

Just Like That

By: redtentwomen August 21, 2019August 20, 2019

Day to Day, Faith, relationshipsLetting Go, Mothering boys, Senior Year, Susan Tucker4 Comments

“The days are long, but the years are short.” Gretchen Rubin “And just like that, my youngest is a senior…”My friend’s words, appearing on my laptop screen, snap me out of my social medial reverie. My youngest is a senior too…just like that. I glance toward his bedroom door, and I feel that if I…

Middle Age

By: redtentwomen August 19, 2019August 19, 2019

Day to Day, Femininity, relationshipsGetting Older, Gray Hair, Mentors, Middle Aged, Rachel Blackston, Wisdom6 Comments

The scent of my mother’s Clairol Nice and Easy solution in Medium Warm Brown wafts through our kitchen. I sit at our cherry wood table staring at my Algebra textbook. She unwraps the cellophane from her head and cranes her neck under the kitchen faucet to rinse. “It always starts out a little dark,” she says…

The Power of a Simple Invitation

By: redtentwomen August 16, 2019August 13, 2019

Day to Day, Faith, relationshipsInvitation, Leslie Verner, Scraping Raisins, Taking a Risk, The Power of Hospitality in an Age of Loneliness2 Comments

Last summer we stumbled on a bluegrass concert in the square of downtown Fort Collins, Colorado. Our three kids migrated toward the front of the crowd to dance with the other children to the banjo, mandolin, upright bass, and guitar music.

Becoming Strong

By: redtentwomen August 14, 2019August 13, 2019

Day to Day, FaithBecoming Strong, Brave Women, Katrina Cowen, Legacy, Perservering, Roots4 Comments

“You are a strong woman, and you come from a long line of strong women.” It may not have been the answer my mother was looking for at that moment, standing in her kitchen in the December morning light, the ravages of a sleepless night on her face. My father had passed away less than…

Time

By: redtentwomen August 13, 2019August 12, 2019

Day to Day, Intentional Living, Monthly Themesmaking the most of time, Nepal, Ramila Karmacharya2 Comments

‘Time’ is the most valuable asset. Each one of us has the same amount of time in a day. Whether you are rich or poor, educated or not—you are given the same twenty-four hours. The only difference is how each one of us utilizes the equal amount of this resource that we have been given.…

Love Came for Me as a Bug

By: redtentwomen August 12, 2019August 3, 2019

FaithExpectant Hope, Janet Stark, Mindfulness, Richard Rhor, Spirit of God, The Universal Christ, Yoga5 Comments

I walked out the door into late morning sunshine. The soft ground, soaked by overnight storms, gave way beneath my bare feet. Attending an all-day retreat as part of a Mindfulness and Self Compassion course, we’d been sent outside for a Sense and Savor Walk. The goal was to practice mindfulness in every detail of…

Calling Ourselves Home

By: redtentwomen August 9, 2019August 3, 2019

Day to Day, Femininity, Monthly ThemesEmpowered Women, Femininity, Haley Wiggers, Let Your Life Speak2 Comments

I was sitting in a room full of men. Okay, this isn’t that rare, but I was taken aback at how uneasy I felt in the moment. In between some semi-offensive comments made by one man, and other talk that I couldn’t participate in, I realized that I had shrunk–I began taking up less and…

Earthy Roots of a Queenly Crown

By: redtentwomen August 8, 2019August 3, 2019

LiteratureChristine Browning, Poetry6 Comments

“I killed my brother! I killed my brother!” I scream as I run into the street after the ambulance. “No, honey, you did not kill your brother,” my kind neighbor, Lois, pulls me close her voice purring into my numb unhearing ears. “He’ll be okay. It was an accident…an accident.” So many times I’ve been…