Space Within — Frequently Asked Questions

How was Ten by Twenty created?

For many years, Randy Fane, my retreat co-facilitator, and I had offered retreats together for staff, faculty, and administrators as part of our teaching assignment at Century College in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. We began wondering aloud if we could create a take-away that would do two things: one, capture the non-ordinary time experience participants had in a retreat and two, help a participant re-create, and even share, that experience in ordinary time. Even though the retreat program had ended at the college, we planned the book as a retreat tool we might use in a future non-college setting.  

However, my husband Stan, a test reader, saw what the book would become apart from retreat use. His encapsulation of Ten by Twenty remains the shortest and best: “Lots of books tell stories experienced or created by their authors. This is a book that challenges you to find your own story.”

Randy and I spent about a year on the creation of Ten by Twenty. There were months of coffee chats as we tried to distill ideas into a simple set of ten reminders, expressed in twenty words, about how we fill spaces, both shared and unshared. We spent more months working with Craig in design and Scott at Trade Press creating the shape and design of a book that would be beautiful, that would be useful, and that would be original in all ways. And eventually Ten by Twenty: Ten Gentle Reminders, Twenty Simple Words was born as a high quality “flip book” that can stand fairly easily on a windowsill, desk, or shelf. The ten reminders move intentionally from “Breathe” and conclude with “Wonder.” The book also offers a beautiful display, thanks to the original watercolor created by Cathryn Bashore to capture and represent “space within.” We still use her artistic work on our business cards and website. 

And Stan was correct: the book has proved useful in helping people reshape their own stories.

Why was a Ten by Twenty mini added?

After test marketing, we received requests for a purse or pocket version, so we created “the mini.” Both versions have been used in retreat sessions, but to our surprise we found the book worked for many as a stand-alone tool, especially for journal prompts and particularly with folks in the customer care sector. A spousal caregiver found the little book useful in helping her respond differently to stressful situations, and she bought copies to share with other caregivers.

Why was the poem Psalm for All Seasons made into a flip book with watercolors?

I am not a fast writer. I even revise emails multiple times. However, I wrote the poem quickly many years before we ever thought of it as a book. The words just rushed their way onto the page. I later used the poem in a healing service. I also sent a copy to a friend whose husband was struggling with the progression of Parkinson’s disease. She shared that she found comfort in reading it and would sit with certain sections that spoke to her.  Another reader said she loved the poem but “it was a lot to take in” all at once.

I discussed with my husband Stan how we could break the poem down into parts to allow a slower absorption of the ideas, season to season, both in the natural world and inwardly on a metaphorical level. Stan was an expert in children’s literature, and he envisioned pictures accompanying text—essentially a children’s book format for an adult audience.

Stan felt it should be the next Space Within product, but he did not live to see it created. The year after his death, I met LouAnn Hoppe at an art show. I shared the poem with her, and we began a collaboration.

Emmy and I saw the completion of the book as a tribute to her dad. She gave editorial advice, leading to a trimming of the original text. We repeated the flip design because it succeeded in letting a reader select a section for a visual focus. I have used it that way myself.  

Soon after the book was printed, Emmy brought a copy to a family in her congregation as the members were carrying each other through a tough medical diagnosis. They were happy to have its comfort. We found that others in similar situations had similar responses. Whenever I hear that someone has given the book to a family in hospice—to read and to share and to display for the dying—I am especially grateful for Stan’s insistence that we create the book. 

The book has comforted many.