Joy in Living Life

My cousin Molly recently sent me the following text message:

“JILL acronym…joy in living life.”

Molly is not on Facebook, and I had not mentioned to her the presentations I had been doing on Joy & Flow so to get her text message with this acronym really made my heart smile.

After mentioning this acronym to my friend Jenna, she brought it to life with this beautiful water color sketch. Both the acronym and the illustration remind me to live each day with joy and to savor the joy in each moment.

So excited to launch a new website dedicated to Joy & Flow !  Check out the new site and let me know what you think.  Here's to a year filled with joy, love, and laughter.

 “Joy is the holy fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence aglow.” Helen Keller

Carrie Newcomer: Holy, Joyful Day!

Holy is the place I stand

To give whatever small good I can

The empty page, the open book

Redemption everywhere I look

~Carrie Newcomer

My heart is full of joy and gratitude when I think about Carrie Newcomer and her presence on this planet.  Today I especially celebrate Carrie's life and all of the music, wisdom, stories, and love that comes through her and that she shares so authentically and generously with the world.

I first met Carrie in February 1993 in Bloomington, IN while I was a graduate student at Indiana University. She was playing a concert at Bear's Place and said something that apparently I found quite humorous as I let out a loud cackle. (I have a very distinctive, loud laugh I am told....). Nobody else laughed, and Carrie said, "I must have found my metaphysical connection in the audience. She laughs, but nobody else does. We should have coffee."

Well little did she know at the time that you don't ask Jill Stratton to have coffee and not have me follow up on that offer!  So although it took some time to coordinate our schedules, Carrie and I finally got together for lunch at the Uptown Cafe in May 1993. Since then, I have been one of Carrie's biggest fans and at one point, I was even her manager.



I once told Carrie that I would walk to the ends of the earth for her and her music. I believe that strongly in the power of Carrie's music to transform, heal, and move people.



Carrie, Parker, & Jill

Parker Palmer claims, "It is a mark of spiritual range as well as artistic virtuosity when a singer-songwriter can make you dance one moment, laugh the next, and then take you to a deeply moving, even prayerful place, as she touches on regret, loss, or grief, or on the wonder of being alive. Carrie’s music does all of this for me, and more."

I would still walk to the ends of the earth to support Carrie and her music.



What do you want to be when you grow up?

On the eve of Washington University's commencement, I wonder how many graduating seniors are reflecting on what they want to be when they grow up.  How many times have we asked others that question and how often have we asked ourselves the very same question?

Because let's face it--even grown-ups still ask themselves that question. I know that I ask myself on a regular basis: What do I want to be when I grow up?

I want to make a difference on a daily basis. I want to impact, connect, listen, care, be, give back, stretch, challenge, and model love and light.

I want to surround myself with bold, creative thinkers who challenge me to be a better person. I want to connect with others who care more about others than they care about their individual success.

I want to explore possibilities with seekers, dreamers, and activists.

• I want to meditate.
• I want to pray.
• I want to write.
• I want to laugh.
• I want to teach.
• I want to learn.
• I want to dream big.
• I want to let my life speak.

When it’s all said and done, I want to live in the present moment, spend time with the people that I love, honor and learn from my past, and contribute to making this world a better place. I want to leave people and places better than when I found them.

I want to live my life with joy and gusto.  

I want to be happy!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Love Is Simple

I want a simple love like that
Always giving never asking back
When I'm in my final hour looking back
I hope I had a simple love like that
--Sarah Siskind, songwriter

On May 15, 1945, Charles Davis and Marion Page were married. When I called my grandmother last year to wish her and my grandfather a happy anniversary, I asked her what she remembered about her wedding day.

She said they got married at the preacher’s house.

I asked her what time of day, and she said it was in the afternoon.

I asked her who was there, and she said her brother Vodrey and his girlfriend, Kathleen. She said that Vodrey was in the service and had made her promise not to get married until he came home.

She said it was a simple service.

Love is simple, and sixty-seven years ago today my grandparents who were 17 at the time, made a promise to one another.

Love is simple, but life can be complicated. And my grandparent’s lives have been both full of love and challenges. Love sustains them, and they have built their lives on a foundation of love and faith.

I deeply admire my grandparents. They kept their promise to one another through the good times and the hard times.

They model love by living simply and humbly, by focusing on family and faith, and by caring for one another.

They are the parents of three children including Alice (my mom), Norma, and Chuck.

They lost a child: my aunt, Norma, who died in 1993 at age 46.

They have 6 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.

They have lived through both joy-filled times and really difficult times. And they kept their promise.

Their wedding ceremony on that Tuesday afternoon in May of 1945 was as my grandmother said: simple.

And their love and marriage have exemplified that love is indeed simple…and strong….and love is all there is.

Happy Anniversary, Granny and Bigdaddy:

When I'm in my final hour looking back I hope I had a simple love like that!

Your House Is Strong

Here is a link to a beautiful love song to mothers written and performed by Nerissa & Katryna Nields:



The lyrics are powerfully simple. My favorite line in the song reminds me that families are nurtured by love and strengthened by difficult times.

Your house is strong, and so are you
The broken spots are where the light shines through.

It is in the coming together to weather the hard times that families grow stronger. I am grateful to my mom and dad for their love and support through both the joyful and painful times. The last few years have been full of both for me, and I thank my parents for believing in me and being such a foundation of kindness, compassion, and support for our entire family. It is in the cracks that we can best see and embrace the light.

"Children pick up on what their parents live." –Sylvia Boorstein

From my Mom--Alice Stratton--I picked up on kindness, showing up, resilience, faith, listening, doing the best you can with what you've got, and love…also the best lasagna on the planet.

From my Dad—Colonel Andy Stratton: I picked up on perseverance, loyalty, integrity, humor, generosity, courage, and love…and having the most fascinating career path of anyone I have ever known.

Mom and Dad—you teach and model the values that you live.

Yes, our house is strong.

Helen Davis Humanitarian Award

When Helen Davis retired from Washington University's Campus Y in 1995, the university established the Helen Davis Humanitarian Award to recognize her for her invaluable contributions the St. Louis and campus communities. According the Campus Life web site, “The student worthy of the Helen Davis Humanitarian Award will have demonstrated the following commitments in their services to the St. Louis community:


■Enabling and empowering others to accomplish their goals and dreams.

■Displaying resourcefulness to meet the needs of others.

■Embracing differences and showing a commitment to diversity.

■Sharing a generous and unselfish attitude.

■Promoting human welfare through education and action.

■Demonstrating a commitment to social justice. “

Helen regularly attends the leadership awards ceremony so she can personally meet the student who is selected for the honor. She then invites the awardee out to lunch so she can get to know him or her on an individual basis. Helen has told me that she truly enjoys the opportunity to get to know the student and his/her passions, which reflects Helen’s continued commitment to empowering young people. I often hear from the students after their lunch with Helen about how much they also enjoyed the chance to get to know her on a personal basis.

This past Sunday night, it was a joy to attend the Excellence in Leadership Awards ceremony with Helen and her daughter Carol Moakley. It was such fun to see Helen in action interacting with many of the students whom she had met through the Campus Y, the Healing the Heart of Democracy retreat, and through her involvement in the community.

At age 81, Helen is still going strong working towards social justice, modeling the way for others, serving the community, and contributing to making this world a better place. I learn from her every day and am so grateful for her presence on this planet and in my life.

Congratulations to Patrick Hollinger who is this year's Helen Davis Humanitarian honoree. I can't wait to hear about his lunch with Helen (which she has already scheduled with him!)

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Magic and Miracles

Everything You Need Is Right Here is the title of Kimberly Schneider’s new book, and the subtitle is “Manifesting Magic and Miracles.” Her main premise is that magic and miracles are all around us, and we just aren’t aware of their presence in our lives.

What magic is around you right now? Around all of us?

The magic of light, and the magic of darkness. As Parker Palmer reminds, we hold both light and darkness within us and once we come to terms with that, we can more fully embrace our true authentic selves.

Striving for perfection is a pointless goal. As Salvador Dali asserts, “Have no fear of perfection. You will never reach it.” I find that freeing.

Perhaps we should strive for being more human—embracing our glorious and imperfect humanity—both the light and the dark of our being. We can lean into the light but acknowledge the darkness so that it doesn’t claim us. We can claim it in order to let the light wash over us.

Maybe both the magic and miracles in this life become more apparent and present when we live whole-heartedly and lean into our humanity and connect with others fully in their humanity. Life is a precious gift. All of life is magic, and all of living is a miracle.

What if we lived our lives as is if we were walking miracles interacting with other miracles—connecting our diving magic with others’ divine magic?

Perhap our world would burst open with more miracles and magic, and we would realize that all we need is right here!!