Meet Patty Carpenter

 Contemplation first came into my life during a difficult season, as a tool that helped me to live with what I could not change. Somewhere along the way, it became more than something I go to... it became somewhere I can come from.

The way I listen has been shaped by many streams: contemplative practice, years of teaching and accompanying others, work with the body, spiritual direction, and experiences that have brought me into relationship with people whose lives, beliefs, and ways of experiencing the world are different from my own. Some of my deepest formation has come from the people themselves.

I’ve been particularly shaped by the Living School at the Center for Action and Contemplation, the Haden Institute, Inner Relationship Focusing, and Centering Prayer. 

My graduate program in Peace and Social Justice, along with years of interfaith work and community, widened my view of the world in ways I couldn’t unsee. It changed how I understand dignity and how I encounter difference.

What I’ve learned about the nervous system, along with a deep respect for the wisdom of the body, is foundational to how I listen.

I have been extraordinarily fortunate to learn from Richard Rohr and James Finley. It was a rare gift, and their teaching and mentorship continue to shape me.

There are writers I return to again and again. John O’Donohue, Mary Oliver, and Gregory Boyle are among them. Their words have become part of the way I see.

I’m a maker and a noticer. I love stained glass, words, poetry, and the kind of beauty that isn’t always pretty. Kindness gets me every time.

And I laugh. A lot.