Invite Anne To Speak At Your Sunday Service
Anne Bokma is an award-winning journalist, speaker, memoir writing workshop leader and the author of My Year of Living Spiritually: One Woman's Secular Quest for a More Soulful Life released by publisher Douglas & McIntyre. She is also founder and host of the popular 6-Minute Memoir “speed storytelling for a cause” live events.
Testimonials from uu leaders
“Anne is a wonderfully engaging speaker who gets to the heart of things with poignant insights about the spiritual quest and a welcome dose of good humour.”
—Rev. Shawn Newton, Senior Minister, First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto
“Anne is a skilled storyteller who draws in her audience and stirs the heart. I was left feeling inspired, challenged and my heart warm. Just brilliant!”
— Melissa Horvath-Lucid, Director of Lifelong Learning, Unitarian Congregation of Guelph
"Anne is an eloquent and passionate speaker who uses humor very effectively. Her observations and experiments with spiritual practices provided insights everyone benefited from."
—Don House, Worship Chairperson, Unitarian Society of Laconia, New Hampshire
“Anne exudes a passion for her subject matter that creates a strong connection to her listeners. She draws them into her message with sincere eloquence and the warmth of her personality.”
—Allan McKeown, Program Chair, Unitarian Fellowship of Sarnia Port Huron
Talks
Lessons From My Year Of Living Spiritually: Anne's memoir documents her journey away from the fundamentalist church of her youth to finding a home among Unitarians in midlife. She shares insights from her whirlwind year of experimenting with 24 spiritual practices—from singing to solitude to going to a witch camp and heading out on a pilgrimage—and how they taught her to live more attentively and authentically in the world.
How To Find Your People: The power of community
“In all our searching, the only thing we've found that makes the emptiness bearable is each other,” wrote the astronomer Carl Sagan. Today 40% of people say they are chronically lonely. The decline in association with traditional religion corresponds with a rise in secular gatherings that create solidarity, enhance personal growth and allow for the kind of transcendence we usually associate with religious feeling—everything from death cafes to drumming circles, storytelling gatherings and social action. Everyone needs a tribe. This talk explores the importance of finding yours.
Why Your Story Matters: Storytelling has the power to connect us during a time when so many are divided. It can help heal our wounds and inspire others. Self-doubt and perfectionism can prevent us from telling our stories. As the founder of the popular 6-Minute Memoir storytelling event which has hosted more than 200 folks sharing their personal true-life tales, Anne offers advice on how to write and tell your story, and why it's the real legacy you leave behind.
Our Golden Hour: The Spirituality of Aging
”Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art,” said Eleanor Roosevelt, a woman who worked ceaselessly for human rights until she died at age 78. The years after midlife, from age 60 to 90 and beyond, so often viewed in popular culture as a time of diminishment, can, in fact, offer a vital sense of urgency to our lives as we become more aware of the limited years we have left. There is still much to look forward to, things to be curious about, adventures to be had and wisdom to be shared. This talk looks at people in the years beyond midlife who are inspiring examples of the notion that it’s never too ate to make your mark.
