Wide Spot: an internal opening created by the convergence of heart and word.

I wrote my first book about three months after I started reading, enchanted by the written word that could create whole new worlds. I wanted to weave that magic, too.

Sixty-odd years later, I am still trying to conjure life out of words. I know that the right words can ripen my heart, root me in deeper reality, and reveal the shining effervescence in which we live, and move, and have our being. So I write to express the sacredness—the unimaginable depth and joy and sorrow—of daily life. I write because I long to turn that which is half-dead into dancing and that which is skin-deep into fathomless mystery.

Here’s what you’ll find on this website:

Singing the Red Dress Song” is a book-length collection of essays which trace the uneven/hilarious/heartbreaking path of growth in spiritual life.

The “Writings” page contains “Wide Spot,” the accumulated short, never-mention-God essays that I write monthly for the Valley Voice newspaper; and “Stillpoints,” which covers a broad territory: bears, consciousness, Alzheimer’s, St. Francis of Assisi, skinny dipping, and Eucharist, to name a few. Sprinkled throughout all this writing are podcasts offering contemplative practices or a spoken-word version of a given essay.

The other pages— “About,” “Calendar,” “Collaborations”—should be self-explanatory. If you’re interested in more information, just email me here. I’m happy to share retreat outlines and practices. (And hotlinks for each of these too, please.)

You can help me defray the costs of keeping all this material available by donating to Therese’s Wide Spot. Located on the bottom of each page is an email address to which you can send an e-transfer. (However, e-transfers only work for Canadians.) Or you can send a cheque of any nationality to the address listed there. And whether you donate or not, please feel free to use what you find here. All I ask is attribution—because I wrote all this for you.

Latest Posts

Wide Spot: Fog Blind

I am blind. This is legally true—without glasses, my eyes are so bad that I should only be behind the wheel if I have a guide dog on my lap who has a driving license. Fog exacerbates my vision problems. Driving Highway 6 in the dark and the fog is hard enough; when another car …

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Wide Spot: Set the Table

If I had five bucks for every time I’ve heard someone grieve over feeling like they don’t belong, I could spend a month in Costa Rica with money left over. I don’t want to denigrate the sincere yearning for community. Many of us lack friends who are willing to hear the longing of our hearts. …

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The Destroyer

I look out my window through a haze of choking smoke. Over 33 million acres have burned in Canada and we’re just halfway through the forest fire season. It’s not an unreasonable question to ask where (the hell) G*d is in all this mess. There’s been a Destroyer lurking in every pantheon since the dawn …

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Reader Reflections

  1. Thank you for reminding me where there is light. It is in alignment with Creation. It is being tangled in…

  2. You have my attention, Therese, i’ve been wrestling with the destructive side of God/nature for a long time. It scares…

  3. Thank you, Therese! I have found these last 6+ weeks to be such an intense time of unease. But still…

Like what you read? I would love to have your support!
Canadians can send an e-transfer to descamp@widespot.ca. Everyone else, I take cheques of all nationalities.
Box 452, New Denver, BC, V0G 1S0, Canada