My name is Kathryn Harper. I'm a lot of things, such as: a purple-haired 60-something woman who loves reading, making art, and spreading kindness. Swap-bot is a wonderful place to slow down, create, and connect.

I'm a late bloomer. I'm married to my best friend. At this age, I'm a maven of curiosity. I'm in my crone era -- tending my soul, living creatively, with a focus on kindness and wonder.

8/21/26: I just dropped my beloved only child off at college about 600 miles away and got home last night. The house feels very strange and quiet. This is going to take some time to get used to.

A: abstract art, acrylics, alternative music, Anjin Ketsujo Sho (安心), assemblage, ATCs

B: Baba Yaga, babies, baking, beach glass, biographies, blogging, blues music, bookmarks, books, Buddha, Buddhism, buttons

C: campfires, camping, (St.) Catherine of Bologna, cats, Celtic knots, chocolate, Christmas, cityscapes, coffee, collage, colors, conversations, cookies, Cosmic Christ, coziness, curiosity

D: dancing, Divine Feminine, documentaries

E: empathy, Enso, ephemera, exploring, expression

F: feathers, feminism, flow, flowers, folklore, folk music, forests, foxes, fruit, fun

G: gardens, generosity, goddesses, green (all shades!), guitar music

H: Hamsa hand, hearts, Hestia, (St.) Hildegard of Bingen, historical fiction, history, hugs, humanism

I: ice cream, India, indigenous cultures, intuition, (St.) Isidore of Seville

J: (St.) Jerome of Stridon, Jesus of Nazareth, journaling, joy, Julian of Norwich

K: kindness, kisses, knitting, knowledge

L: lakes, landscapes, laughing, learning, leaves, letters (newsy ones), libraries, light, Litha, love

M: meditation, memoir, metta, mindfulness, mixed media, moon, Mother Mary, mothers, mountains, museums, music, mystery, mysticism

N: national parks, nature, new age music, non-fiction reads, nostalgia, noticing

O: observing, ocean, octopus, Om symbol, oracle decks

P: painting, photography, picture books, poetry, popcorn, postage stamps, postcards, pretty paper, puns, purple, puzzles (crossword + jigsaw)

Q: Quakers, questions, quietude, quotes

R: rabbits, rain, reading, religious literacy, rivers, roses

S: Sarasvati, science, science fiction, seeker, serendipity, Sheela-na-gig, shells, singing, solitude, SoulCollage®, stickers, synchronicity

T: tarot, tea, (St.) Teresa of Avila, therapy, (St.) Thérèse of Lisieux, trees, trip-hop music

U: underwater wildlife, Unitarian Universalist, unity

V: vegetarian food, volunteering

W: walks, washi tape, watercolor, waterscapes, wisdom, words, world music, writing

X: xenophiles, XO

Y: yarn, Yuletide

Z: Zen meditation, Zentangle, zoology, zoos

I have preferred authors over favorite books.

Fiction faves: Isabel Allende, Elizabeth Berg, Octavia Butler, Louise Erdich, Jonathan Franzen, Lauren Groff, Charlaine Harris, Tony Hillerman, Nick Hornby, Sue Kidd, Laurie King, Barbara Kingsolver, Wally Lamb, Rohinton Mistry, Christopher Moore, Ruth Ozeki, Ann Patchett, Jodi Picoult, Anna Quindlen, Anne Rice, May Sarton, Elizabeth Strout, Anne Tyler

Non-fiction faves: Adyashanti, Karen Armstrong, Rob Breszny, Bill Bryson, Gavin DeBecker, Andrea Gibson, Mary Karr, Ted Kooser, Jonathan Kozol, Anne Lamott, Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi, Karen Maezen Miller, Henri Nouwen, Mary Rose O'Reilly, Ruth Reichl, Heather Cox Richardson, Mary Roach, Carl Sagan, Rebecca Solnit, Studs Terkel, Terry Tempest Williams, Irving Yalom

I read a lot of nonfiction too: aging, anthropology, biography, culture, current affairs, feminism, health, history, memoir, neurodivergence, philosophy, poetry, psychology, science, social science, thanatology, travel, world religions

Books I've read since 2002: https://aenigmas.blogspot.com/p/past-reads_18.html

Annual music playlists from 2022 onward: https://aenigmas.blogspot.com/p/annual-playlists.html

I'd love to receive:

• anything related to something from my alphabet; it could be artwork, poems, quotes, playlists, postcards, book, etc.

• all types of paper in various colors/textures

• newsy letters about you and your life

• dark chocolate anything

• decorated envelopes for me to use

Identity, Meaning, & Connection

Members here sometimes share the religion or spiritual practices they engage in. I understand that -- we search for and create meaning in our lives, and we are looking for connection, which is why we like the swaps. I have noticed this information is sometimes shared as a means of communicating to swappers what not to send. I'm fairly open and diverse. I've followed a winding spiritual path. Here is the "reader's digest" version of my spiritual path, which is: raised Roman Catholic (devout), charismatic Catholic teen; atheist young adulthood (LGBTQ and trying to find spiritual community in the 1980s); Unitarian Universalist (still a pretty good fit); evangelical fundamentalist Christianity in my early 30s (following a trauma); exploring pagan and Wiccan practices; Quakers/Friends; and eventually meditation and Buddhist practice.

I participate in no official religion, church, sangha, coven, or other religious cohort. My profession is psychotherapy, which to me is a kind of spiritual practice. I practice non-denominational spirituality. I am drawn to certain icons, symbols, ethics, and practices that help me to be intimate with my life. You'll find some of them in my alphabet.

• Loose glitter
• Horror genre (t.v., books, movies)
• Fundamentalism
• Precious Moments anything
• Reward stickers, kiddie stickers

But am generally happy to receive anything you make and send with care.