Walking the labyrinth
stone by stone.
My name is Laura Fissel.
I am an artist, homeschooling parent, and trained catechist directing a Catechesis of the Good Shepherd atrium in Greensboro, NC.
In pursuit of self-definition over the past several decades, I have found myself in a great variety of professions as I seek out “my thing”—you know, the one I’m really good at; the one I become known for. Each time I feel assured that I have found it, the gears shift and I find myself careening off road.
On bad days, I feel disoriented and lost, frustrated that I’m a beginner in some field all over again, sure that I am the only adult in the world who hasn’t “made it” yet, and fearful that I’ll reach the end of my life with nothing to show for my time here. The most recent course change in my life came just a few years ago in the form of a clear calling to start a Level I & Level II Catechesis of the Good Shepherd atrium in our family home. (I’m still in the stage I’d identify as “fish out of water.”)
On good days, I’m able to reject shame about my novice status, or insecurity over my eclectic resumé. Sometimes I can even believe that my varied history is Divine intentionality in the “naming” of me (a name uncovered over a lifetime). Sometimes, I can even trust that “my thing” is being who I am, and that all the hats I’ve worn and skills I’ve practiced are colors on that canvas.
In summary: I’m an astonished pilgrim, co-writing my life’s story with God by putting one foot in front of the other and fighting to stay present on the path under my feet. You are welcome to this, my little corner of the world, where you can find the work I do and the things I contemplate while doing it.
“We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us
to do something, and
to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning,
a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.”
—Oscar Romero
Archbishop & Saint
