If writing is a form of care—a way of caring for the self and caring for the world—then editing is soul care for words, and “word care” for writers.

Whether or not we realize it, writing inflects how we approach everything, from the marketing slogans that tweak our choices to the storylines of novels, movies, and myths that give our lives depth. Writing about the world helps us better understand it, and understanding it helps us care for it. Writing is soul care, for words.

As an editor and writing coach, my goal is to help people use words with care. Care to better understand their own lives and our shared lives, through story, prose, history, analysis, all the words we bring to the page and screen.

Writing is a journey

I trained as a historian and religious studies academic with a historical approach; I wrote footnoted articles and gave talks about how we approach our most deeply felt experiences and beliefs. As valuable as the historical approach is, it also seemed limiting. I couldn’t write—in academic circles, at least—about my personal connections to the topics I most cared about.

In addition to academic work, I also write creative nonfiction, fiction (mostly unpublished!), and poetry (sometimes published!). I’m a journaler, and a writer of blessings and liturgy. I wanted to do more than analyze. I wanted to show care through my words.

Over time, I’ve realized that my personal interests in religious history can’t easily be separated from the academic. I write about the increasing numbers who identify as spiritual but not religious or as a religious “none,” about complex religious identities, and the challenges and joys of the interfaith family. I bring those together in my writing and editorial work for Killing the Buddha, on my blog, and elsewhere.

A bit more background

I received my Ph.D. in Religion from Princeton University in 2010, where I studied religion in America, religious liberalism, gender, and the history of religious practices. You can see what I’ve written on this topic one my Writings page. From 2010-2012, I taught as an adjunct professor of religious studies and American history at a small liberal arts college. I also taught liberal religious history and polity at Starr King School for the Ministry.

Until early 2019, I coordinated a Mellon Foundation grant at Lake Forest College for the Digital Chicago: Unearthing History and Culture project from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. I managed all aspects of over twenty faculty online projects. I helped faculty Fellows focus their research projects and tailor them to the online environment, and handled all developmental editing and copy editing of all writing for the projects. During this project, I developed my coaching skills as I guided faculty through the process of their projects.

From 2011-2016, I served as the Director of the Harvard Square Library, a digital library of books, biographies, texts, and media about religious liberalism and Unitarian Universalism.

I have blogged regularly for the InterfaithFamily Network’s Parenting blog, where I wrote about the complexities of raising kids in a dual-faith home. You can find my posts at the site here.

I’ve been lucky to spend time living in places as different as Massachusetts, California, New Jersey, and North Carolina, and I even had a brief six-month stint in Finland (which yielded an enduring love of sauna)! As of the last few years, I’ve lived in Chicago’s northern suburbs, where I’m mother to two energetic elementary-school daughters. When I find time, I like to go biking, skiing, or walking in the area’s many nature preserves.

Get in touch to find out how I can bring soul care to your words!