The Labor of Monks
Jan 14, 2026During my early years as a dean of students, many of the students I talked with were burdened with issues similar to what I had experienced. The main difference between us was that I had had time to reflect and learn from them. It was an unsolicited invitation to listen to students with fresh ears, gradually understanding that the universe was asking me to re-hear my stories as stories that were common to the world and actually made by the world. I took this as an opportunity to reflect on my narrative as a means of deeper self-recovery, yes, but also as a process that contributed to a kind of reformation of self and world. I began to think more clearly about how our stories participate in the larger stories of the world—think here of personal violence as a subset of familial, communal, and national ambivalence for humanity; think how poverty impacts one person but is really the result of a whole who acquiesced to systems of greed and human disregard. This decade allowed me to reflect more deeply on the meaning of Audre Lorde’s the personal is political. These connections became even more evident as I began my spiritual direction journey.
Please continue reading Amy Steele's blog post here: The Labor of Monks - Olive Wood Partners
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