Charlotte Ostermann

I write, speak, invest, network, and question to stimulate fruitful conversation. Let's talk about human flourishing! It begins with freedom. Holy leisure is the key to human being, freedom and generativity.  Please join me in the adventure of realizing Christ!

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Events

March 26 – Benedictine College Symposium on Transforming Culture

My talk is Community in Complex Times. What’s the organizational structure that stays responsive and resilient in a complex, shifting landscape? Come find out!

September 9 – Building Community: Why we Should, Why we Don’t, How we Can

I’ll be speaking at Benedictine College and the public is welcome. September 9, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. in the McAllister Board Room on the 4th floor of Ferrell Academic Center.

August 1-3 – The Poet as Troublemaker for the G.K. Chesterton Conference in Kansas City!!

Ever since I gave fellow Chestertonians Joy in Three Persons, I’ve been hoping to be asked back to give them this talk. I’m thrilled to represent our local Northeast Kansas Chesterton Society on our own home turf!

March 16 – Women’s Lenten Retreat for the Parish of Sts. Joachim and Anne in Shakopee, MN

What do you get when you put the genius of women together with the practice of Sabbath-keeping? Human freedom and flourishing!

February 16 – Teacher In-Service Workshop for St. Charles Borromeo Academy in Kansas City, MO

The Place of Poetry in Catholic Education – a half-day, hands-on, fun and surprising exploration of poesis, human formation, faith, and the power of words.

February 9 – How to Become People of the Word – for a private group of bright Catholic mom/educators

This is one of my favorite conversation groups, and it all started when one lady took me up on my offer to come to a private group any time, just for the joy of spending time in conversation. They pick a topic, we eat brunch and drink coffee (my only ‘fee’ for this is coffee!), and after a brief presentation, we let the conversation flow for a total of 3 hours. THIS is what I’m talkin’ about!!

December 8 – Interior Freedom for KC/St. Joseph Women’s Conference

God has introduced me to a new saint for this talk, and I am looking forward to sharing her with these ladies. Hint: freedom is a capacity for mercy. I so enjoy participating in the Holy Spirit’s creativity to serve the Church. Every time I’m asked to speak is a new adventure.

December 1 – Beauty Becomes You for Three-Parish Christmas Tea in Perry, KS

What a beautiful time of year to be encouraging women to pursue their beauty! The King desires it, so I’m happy to be His messenger. Mary, Tota Pulchra, pray for us.

November 2 – An Experiment in Criticism for Literary Ladies

For the Lawrence, KS Literary Ladies Society I’ll give an overview of C.S. Lewis’s An Experiment in Criticism, and share why I think it’s a very important book. [Sadly, the ladies cancelled this event, but I leave it here hoping for another opportunity to discuss this great book!]

October 5 – Balance in Three Dimensions – Speaker for the First Friday Club of Greater Youngstown, Ohio

Yes, we know this is on a Thursday! That’s how things roll in Ohio.

Fr. Jim Korda interviewed me for his Wineskins radio show, while I was in Ohio to give this talk. My interview begins at 9:24 on this broadcast.

June 17 – Playing With Words – Workshop Leader in Wichita

I’ll be the Poet-in-Residence for the Storytellers of the Great Plains in Wichita, KS, offering my workshop on poetic presence, perception and personhood.

June 9/10, 2017 – Kansas City Catholic Homeschool Conference – Returning for the Seventh Year!

Presenting: Homeschooling to Rock the World and The Intellectual Life

March 20, 2017 – Leisure & Labor Conference, St. Gregory’s University, Shawnee, OK

Presenting: Education for Freedom

Can’t wait to hear the Keynote Speaker, Fr. James Schall…have loved so many of his books! [Ugh…he was sick and didn’t come! On the bright side, a much-smallified edition of this talk was accepted for the Newman Society Journal by editor Joseph Pearce…yay!]

March 4, 2017 – Lent Retreat in Salina, KS

Presenting: The Holy Spirit Wants YOU! Beautiful + Effective + Powerful

Mother Mary as a Model for Women Who Bring Unity to the Church and the World

January 17, 2017 – Serra Club, St. Andrew the Apostle, Gladstone, MO

Presenting: Sabbath, Simplified.

Finally! Recordings of the GKC Conference talk.

https://youtu.be/pZRrYfZ-HOk

August, 2016 – Chesterton Conference, PA

Presenting: Joy in Three Persons (I’m thrilled to present about Chesterton to die hard Chestertonians!)

June 17-18, 2016 – Catholic Homeschooling Convention, Gardner, KS

Presenting: Living Books and Communicating Reality to a Child

April, 2016 – Fifth Annual Symposium on the New Evangelization at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas

Presenting: Hope, in a Word (The theme this year is Mercy and the Revolution)

January 29-30, 2016 – Newton, KS Catholic Women’s Retreat

Presenting: The Holy Spirit Wants You Beautiful, The Holy Spirit Wants You Effective, and The Holy Spirit Wants You Powerful. Wow! I know the Holy Spirit is already preparing the way for those He is leading to come to this multi-parish retreat. (Post retreat note: This was one awesome weekend!)

June 5-6, 2015 – Kansas Catholic Home Schooling Conference, Olathe, KS

Presenting: B is for Bricks (Teaching huge life lessons in small pieces) and Getting Out of the Box (Creative credit reporting for college applications)

March 27-28 – 4th Annual Symposium on Advancing the New Evangelization

Presenting: Joy in Three Persons – Weaving Supernatural Joy into Natural Life (See the You Tube link, above, for my presentation of this at the 2016 Chesterton Conference at Slippery Rock, PA)

March 7, 2015 – Women of Spirit Retreat, Holy Spirit Catholic Church, Overland Park, KS

Presenting: A Prayer, a Poem, a Person, a Place

February 17, 2015 – St. Margaret Home Educators, Gladstone, MO

Presenting: Taking Care of Mom and Each Other

January 19, 2015 – Taping an interview with Marcus Grodi, to be aired later on EWTN’s Journey Home Show!!

January 15, 2015 – St. Gerard Circle, Holy Spirit, Overland Park, KS

Presenting: Hi-Resolution Beauty

November 13, 2014 – Women of St. Ignatius, Leavenworth, KS

Presenting: A is for Atmosphere

June 10, 2014 – Contemporary Religious Artists Association

Presenting: The Glory of Form

June 6 and 7, 2014 – Kansas Catholic Homeschooling Conference

Presenting: Taking Care of Mom and Each Other

May 13, 2014 – Contemporary Religious Artists Association

Presenting: What About Gaudi?

March 21, 22, 2014 – Benedictine College Symposium on Advancing the New Evangelization

Presenting: Three-Dimensional Transcendentals, Preamble for Faith

December 10, 2013 – Contemporary Religious Artists Association

Presenting: Creating an Advent Liturgy with Poetry

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Free for You: Motherheart Collection

Upschooling

Souls at Rest: An Exploration of the Eucharistic Sabbath

Souls At Work: An Invitation to Freedom

DARE YOUR SOMETHING!

JOY! JOY! JOY!

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Talks for Writers and Artists

Blogging About My Talks

Building the Bridge

This is my most-requested audio – about how we can educate our children well, despite our own inadequacies. The Problem – We must get kids from where they are, to where they need to be; from ‘uneducated’ to ‘educated’. Given the poverty of our own education, we feel asked to do the impossible: build a […]

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Putting Down Sabbath Roots

Some audiences want to cut right to the chase: “Give us practical applications of all your ideas about Sabbath-keeping.” OK – here you go: In this talk I do just that – give concrete, practical ways to dip into the kind of leisure that brings  interior equanimity and leaves you more whole, more human, more […]

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Women on the Way to Healing

I prepared this talk for the Heart of a Woman group, in Kansas City, shortly after the suicide of a Catholic mother of ten. It was a shock to me, but not entirely unexpected, as I had known her during the years she struggled with depression and disintegration, despite her devotion to the Church, Christ, […]

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High Resolution Beauty

For an Apostles of the Interior Life Women’s Retreat, where the theme was “The King Desires Your Beauty,”  I prepared this truly interesting talk. Will you believe me when I say that this is another of my favorites?!?! I know, I’ve said that about a  lot of these talks, but revisiting them to give a […]

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Sabbath is a Woman

I once asked a friend who calls herself a Jewish-Catholic if it had been hard for her to accept Mary’s role in Salvation History. She laughed and said, “Heck no! Every Sabbath was begun by a Jewish mama’s prayers! I’d have been suspicious if Lord Sabbaoth hadn’t come through a woman.” Jewish women welcomed Sabbath […]

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The Veiled Self

Differences between the original myth of Cupid and Psyche, and C.S. Lewis’ retelling of the myth in Till We Have Faces have the effect of revealing new dimensionality in the Christian understanding of both myth and of the human person. The pre-Christian myth, like the pre-Christian person, is veiled in a darkness that constitutes a […]

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About a Landscape

In “Stour Valley and Dedham Church”  Constable has painted the Vale of Dedham – a familiar and beloved area of his native England.

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A Merry Drinker

 “The Merry Drinker,” by Frans Hals This is a portrait of an unnamed man, called in the title only ‘a merry drinker’.

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A Wedding Feast

Giotto’s painting, The Wedding Feast at Cana, portrays the literal and spiritual senses of this story.

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St. Francis Altar

Berlinghieri’s St. Francis  appears behind the altar of San Francesco in Pescia, Italy. It is an excellent example of art ordered to divine worship.

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More Posts About Art

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art artist Beauty Brick capacity Catholic Chesterton Christ Church communication community conversation creativity culture dialogue Education evangelization form formation freedom friendship fun healing Homemaking imagination intellectual life interior life leisure love motherhood Parenting person Personhood play Poetry prayer reading reality response Sabbath senses unity Women work writing

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Family – Apostles of the Interior LIfe

Communion & Liberation

Association of Catholic Women Bloggers

Catholic Writers Guild

Catholic Creatives Salon

Northeast KS Chesterton Society

Sursum Corda Polyphony Ensemble

St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center

Friends of Most Pure Heart of Mary Schola Cantorum

Well Read Mom

The Table – Christian Writers in Conversation

A is for Atmosphere

A mom is the caretaker of a huge, wonderful, potentially beautiful, critically important place! She, herself, this actual, unique person, is the single most important ‘environment’ in the lives of her children. Like Mary, like the Church, she is an atmosphere. She is an atmosphere of affection. This is not just warm, fuzzy feelings, but […]

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Three-Dimensional Transcendentals

Benedictine College hosted a Symposium for Advancing the New Evangelization in 2014. The theme was Transcendentals as Preambles to Faith, and I got to propose my take on that as a paper. Anyone who knows me could probably have bet good money I’d do something ‘three dimensional’ with that, and they’d have won those bets. […]

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A Prayer, A Poem, A Person, A Place

I once got a chance to do an all-day retreat with one of the sister Apostles of the Interior Life. Naturally, I wanted to discuss the role of leisure in the formation of persons! As usual, I prayed about the upcoming event, and God brought together several threads of my contemplation to weave this talk. […]

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Living Poems

Did you know YOU are a poem? Check out Ephesians 2:10, where the Greek ‘poema’ is usually translated ‘workmanship’. I like ‘poema’ better, as it implies beauty and artistry, but ‘workmanship’ is nice. I’ve discussed the importance of poetry, poetic education, poetic imagination and poetic reading in many different venues (many of the talk topics […]

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More Posts About Education

  • Charlotte Ostermann on Creativity
  • What About Gaudi?
  • Enchanted Education
  • Poetry Workshops
  • Stratford Caldecott Bibliography
  • Welcome to Bright City

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