What if the word you choose this year could become a doorway into transformation?

Join Christine Valters Paintner as she explores the ancient desert tradition of receiving a single guiding word—not as a resolution to achieve, but as a contemplative companion to live with and listen to. 

In this session, Christine shares how one word can anchor us in trust, humility, and the slow ripening of mystery amid life’s uncertainties. Drawing from her own journey through illness, movement practices, and deep engagement with nature and the arts, she invites us to release striving, honor our embodied limits, and discover the sacred shimmering in ordinary life. 

Come learn how to welcome your word with patience and delight, allowing it to shape your days with gentleness and grace.

Speaker bio: 

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE is the online Abbess of Abbey of the Arts (https://abbeyofthearts.com/), a virtual monastery and global community providing resources for contemplative practice and creative expression. Rooted primarily in desert, Celtic, and Benedictine traditions, she earned her doctorate in Christian Spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union and is the author of more than 20 books on spirituality and expressive arts including Give Me a Word: An Ancient Practice to Guide Your Year (Broadleaf)

(https://abbeyofthearts.com/books/give-me-a-word/). Christine has lived on the wild edges of Ireland with her husband John since 2012 where she writes and teaches online and lives out her commitment as a Benedictine oblate.