I grew up roaming and scavenging the plains of southern South Dakota. That childhood landscape instilled a desire for spaciousness that's stayed with me into adulthood. My work often reflects these themes.
This quote is from the uniquely well-timed 2024 film “CONCLAVE” about the selection of a new Pope. It’s haunted me ever since. Here is the entire quote and the clip from the film.
“My brothers and sisters...let me tell you that the one sin I have come to fear more than any other is certainty. Certainty is the great enemy of unity..our faith is a living thing precisely because it walks hand in hand with doubt. If there was only certainty, and if there was no doubt, there would be no mystery, and therefore no need for faith.” ―Robert Harris, Conclave
CERTAIN: known for sure; established beyond doubt
ENEMY: something harmful or deadly
UNITY: a condition of harmony
A tidy package of CERTAINTY is rarely going to arrive on my doorstep.
How can I learn to manage my emotional distress when certainty isn’t possible?
• Don't believe everything I think, it's just a thought (NOT a fact).
• Acknowledge my feelings without judgment (or try to anyway).
• Accept that I may never have certainty on this topic.
• Remind myself of the rest of the quote:"...our faith is a living thing precisely because it walks hand in hand with doubt. If there was only certainty, and if there was no doubt, there would be no mystery, and therefore no need for faith."
Sunrise on Town Neck Beach—Sandwich, Massachusetts—July 3rd, 2025
Last December, I rejoined a gym in my neighborhood. Access to equipment is great, especially in cold, grey Vermont weather. However, by far the very best part of my gym experience has been the sauna in the women’s locker room.
I’ve met ER nurses, a reproductive lawyer, a writer, a cowgirl, teachers, students, a non-profit director, a doctor, a boutique owner (who got me water recently when I stayed in too long and nearly fainted), and so many other remarkable women.
One woman and I began talking and soon realized that we were both artists and the same woman made our wedding dresses.
In a time when so much of what we are exposed to is deepfakes, or AI-generated—sitting in the dark, wrapped only in a towel, sweating, and talking to other women has been a welcomed respite from the world.
One day a few months ago two older women were talking in the sauna. I was listening at first—although I’m always ready to jump in with a question when I’m curious about something…unspoken sauna rules.
They were telling their stories about Europe during WWII. One of the women described how her Jewish family fled Germany to Switzerland on one of the last trains possible. I stayed in too long that day too.
The other woman, Tereska told the story of her parents who were newlyweds living in Warsaw, Poland when Germany invaded. I wanted to know so much more. Then she told me she wrote a book about her parent’s experience.
I went home, downloaded the audio version, and started listening to The General’s Barber and the Seamstress, A Polish Love Storyby Tereska Buko.
When Hitler invades Poland in 1939, newlyweds Józef and Marysia Buko are catapulted into a sudden and heart-wrenching seven-year separation. Józef honors the soldier’s code and is forced to fight battles in many foreign lands. Marysia remains in Warsaw to join in the underground resistance against Poland’s Nazi occupiers. Each faces life-threatening situations demanding courage, faith, and resilience if the couple is ever to see each other again.
For the last few years, I’ve read a lot about WWII. My prior knowledge was embarrassingly lacking. Having met Tereska, and then reading about Józef and Marysia’s horror, grit, and heart made The General’s Barber and the Seamstress very alive to me.
___________________________________________
Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.
PS I had not seen Tereska since she told me about her book in February. I kept hoping I would run into her. Last Friday I finished listening to the book and went to the gym. Our paths finally crossed again in the sauna and I learned that her cousin was the voice on the audiobook which personalized the story even more.
