About Reverend Jennifer 

Thank you for your interest in learning more about me. My story is one of resilience and discernment to find my own way of being in the world. My hope is that by sharing my story as a brain injury survivor, I will help you build your own bridge to belonging.
In June 1977, I survived a life-threatening brain hemorrhage as a six-year-old child – 13 years prior to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. At that time, no language existed for neurodiversity or disability justice. Instead, all that existed was the medical model of curing and fixing what was broken. But what if I didn’t feel broken?  Instead, what if I explored ways to break down societal barriers in order to break through, break open and break free into a more expansive, liberated, vibrant way of life?

And so began my life-long journey of working toward equity and justice leading to greater healing and wholeness. In November 2023, I had the good fortune of meeting and thanking my Stanford neurosurgeon, Dr. Jerry Silverberg, for saving my life. I love this photo of the two of us 46 years later. It was wonderful to share this moment with my husband, my daughter and my parents. I can’t imagine a greater expression of gratitude than the gift of life and health! 

Art Advocacy & Artistry Statement 

In spite of my illness, I retained the spirit of play, imagination, wonder and awe thanks to the magic of childhood. My brain injury, an arteriovenous malformation (AVM), happened to be located in the left hemisphere of my brain near the language center. In the four months leading up to my surgery, I had no access to verbal expression due to the bursting of blood vessels that hemorrhaged and swelled. 

How would I communicate and advocate for myself without verbal expression? Art became my ally for artistic self-expression. I learned to write, sketch, paint, dance and listen to music. I moved my body to my own life-giving rhythm and beat in this silent yet wonder-filled space of creativity.

Four decades later, I participated in a community art exhibit for brain injury survivors hosted by Brain Injury Alliance of Washington. Here was my artist statement:
Brain injury survivors are a largely invisible community. This art exhibit enables artists to bring beauty together with justice to counteract this sense of anonymity. I believe that the human spirit is irreducible. We are more than our medical charts and clinical diagnoses. This is why I write and preach. I want to remind myself and others that people – whether brain injured or not – are human beings worthy of dignity, respect and belonging. Art puts a human face on social issues where creativity replaces anonymity, hope replaces despair.

Nature & Healing

When I regained my speech after brain surgery, I noticed a marked difference in how I processed language. My brain injury directly impacted executive functioning around word-finding difficulties and memory recall. To alleviate stress around these cognitive challenges, I “felt” my way into speech through the sensory world of touch and kinesthetic movement. 

By cultivating skills in the right hemisphere of my brain, I discovered innovative strategies. For example, I used my eyes as a visual guide to track what I saw and felt, but couldn’t name. Imagery and touch taught me to slow down and pay attention. I honed the practice of noticing life’s small details and simple wonders. My attunement with the natural world expanded my frequent encounters with awe. By connecting my body through kinesthetic movement in nature, I also built muscle memory to help strengthen my brain and body for overall health and wellness. 

Today, I feel fortunate to engage with Seattle’s Kubota Garden as a source of inspiration for my nature-based ministry around equity and healing. I offer speaking engagements and workshops on accessibility and inclusion so that everyone may enjoy the meditative, restorative benefits of connecting our bodies with nature. In fact, my recent tour of the Kubota Garden, led by Dr. Jason Wirth from Seattle University, inspired me to write this poem and reflection in honor of Fujitaro Kubota (1879 - 1973). This poem and reflection piece is published in the Unitarian Universalist Ministry for the Earth magazine. 

HUMBLE

​Healing presence in nature from war and wound
United in holy communion with Earth’s elements
Mindful of aesthetic space guided by nature’s wisdom for spiritual renewal
Blessed with an artist’s eye to envision beauty in the face of injustice
Listening with deep attentiveness to the stones, trees and water to guide and shape Seattle’s Kubota Garden
Embracing a posture of humility in quieting the self in order to pay attention to the rhythms, seasons and cycles of life with reverence and awe

Reflection

In my ministry, I actively seek ways to plant seeds of social change, hope and healing. This is why gardens fascinate me. They offer a tangible source of promising growth through a deep connection with the Earth. 

Imagine my delight, then, in being invited to attend a garden tour specifically designed around these spiritual themes through Seattle University’s Interreligious Dialogue Initiative. Fujitarō Kubota (1879-1973) was a landscape designer who carried seeds of change – literally and figuratively. 

Not only did he bring seeds from his native Japan to plant in his Japanese-inspired Kubota Garden in Seattle, but he carried these same seeds to the internment camp in Minidoka, Idaho during WWII. Fujitarō’s nature-based Shinto religion sustained his spirit in the face of racial injustice. By grounding himself in the natural world, he found the inner resources to design a beautiful rock garden within the walls of his imprisonment. The war may have contained his body, but not his spirit. 

Father Richard Rohr expressed it best in these words: “If we do not transform our pain, we will most assuredly transmit it.” Fujitarō embodied a generative spirit to transform pain into beauty and healing grounded in the Earth’s deep wisdom. May we find inspiration in his example and do likewise. 

Let's Collaborate 

​I would be delighted to speak with you to engage in public speaking events, workshop facilitation and other creative endeavors. ​