Chapter Ten: Blessed is the Couple Who Dances with the Tension Between “Me” and “We

Rick and Marcy Jackson

… the world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles, no matter how long, but only by a spiritual journey, a journey of one inch, very arduous and humbling and joyful, by which we arrive at the ground at our feet, and learn to be at home.

Wendell Berry

Marcy and Rick Jackson met at college in MN, got married in their early 20s, and “grew up” together—navigating individuation from families of origin while also discovering what it means to be marriage partners. Since then they have partnered in parenting two wonderful daughters, co-founding The Center for Courage & Renewal (with friend and mentor, Parker Palmer), serving on non-profit boards, traveling across the world, and now singing for people at the thresholds of life as part of a Threshold Choir. Marcy has been an individual and family therapist, grief counselor, retreat facilitator, non-profit leader, mentor, spiritual seeker, and sometime artist. Rick’s roles have included campus ministry, YMCA executive, consultant in youth and community leadership development, adjunct professor, coach, and mentor. They live on Bainbridge Island, WA—a 30-minute ferry ride to Seattle—in a sustainably built, solar-powered community in Winslow, walkable to favorite shops, trails and haunts.