Nov 6, 2017 | Published Works
I began to explore the personal through poetry in 1985 at the age of 37. That this coincided almost exactly with my coming out as a lesbian hardly seems like a random occurrence. To paraphrase Gertrude: getting down to essence is getting down to essence. My poetry has...
Sep 23, 2017 | Notes On The Journey
Come celebrate the Full Moon in Ares— prime time for re-awakening, re-igniting, and re-imagining ourselves; to stand in our fullness and in the light of our own truths; to release the chaos and projections of others so that we may be at our strongest as we show...
Nov 5, 2016 | Notes On The Journey
Back in my Seminary days, we were taught a practice called “Lectio Divina” (divine reading). Wikipedia describes it as “a traditional Benedictine practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to...
Nov 13, 2015 | Notes On The Journey
It’s Thursday evening. I’m usually 45 minutes into my Anthropology of Media class, but I was given a welcome gift of having my class cancelled. While I regret the illness of the professor which caused the cancellation, the unplanned-for bit of space/time...
Dec 17, 2014 | Notes On The Journey
Recently, at a private session with an extraordinary healer and teacher of Energy Medicine, I expressed my frustration at how much, after a lifetime of personal work of all kinds, I still suffer. For all the healing work I’ve done, I can, on a daily basis, fall into...
May 1, 2014 | Notes On The Journey
I’m amazed that nearly two years have passed since I’ve posted here. It felt like only a few months. This, it would seem, is how life goes. Just as my parents and grandparents said it would…. you blink at 17 and you’re 65, which is exactly...
Whether through Shamanic practice, through ministry, or through art, Riva finds peace and practice in spreading love, compassion, and empathy for the self and others. 