Nicole Lyon Roccas

St. Porphyrios once wrote that “whoever wants to become a Christian must first become a poet.” Poetry trains us to pay attention to the often-overlooked beauty, suffering, love, and joy all around us, cultivating the attentiveness that lies at the heart of the Christian life.

On Aug 30 (7-8:30 EDT), I'm partnering with Axia Women to host a 90-minute poetry-writing workshop. I know writing poetry can seem intimidating, but we’re going to make this fun and meaningful!

Open to women of all experience levels, the goal is not technical perfection, but deeper attention, creative play, and meaningful expression.

Expect to walk away with at least one new poem—probably more—and inviting ideas for where to go next in your poetry journey. Would love to see you there!

When: Aug 30, 2026 | 7-8:30 PM EDT
Where: Online
Cost: Sliding scale from $35-45

RECORDINGS AVAILABLE to paid registrants for 90 days following the workshop.

https://www.axiawomen.org/event/christian-life-poetry-nicole-lyon-roccas

“But aren’t you an Orthodox writer?”

The question caught me off guard.

I mean, I’m Orthodox—at least to the extent my imperfect human efforts allow. And I’m also a writer, with similar caveats.

But I sensed this was not what she meant…

I’ve always struggled with labels like “Orthodox writer,” “Christian writer,” etc. Today I’m sharing about how I’ve been trying to navigate some of these categories lately.
https://nicoleroccas.substack.com/p/why-i-am-no-longer-an-orthodox-writer

In case you missed the article I wrote earlier this week for the Re-Creation Podcast. Not something I wanted to write, but also felt necessary.

Not Everything is Beneficial: Fr. Seraphim Rose and the Nature of Complicity “Did he know?” It’s an important question. It also might be the wrong one to be asking.

Calling fellow writers! Between Pascha, marathon training, and regular life, I’ve slacked on reminding folks here that the next round of my weekly writing circle starts a week from today, April 30, 2026!

Women writers of all experience levels interested in a gently (read: not annoyingly) faith-based creative community focused on generative writing and just sharing life in a meaningful way together. Dm me if you’re curious and want to know more!

This season we’ll be loosely focusing on nature and place-based writing. Not that everyone has to be writing about nature, but through some of the prompts those who want to will have some extra opportunities to explore how place, beauty, and natural unfolding shapes our lives, work, and writing.

Learn more or register:

✍️ 🌱Spring/Summer 2026 Weekly Writing Meetups for Women (April 30 - July 23, 2026) Morning pages? More like boring pages.Even though I’ve published three books, I still struggle with maintaining a regular writing practice—unless I’m cowering under a deadline, caffeine overdose, or mental picture of Asian beetles invading my office unless I hit 500 words.The only time writing...

We've only ever met through Facebook, so it seems appropriate that I share about the thoughtful conversation Eleni and I got to have with Orthodox veterinary doctor Jesse Alexis Vallecillo about the impact of human agency on the lives of animals--for better and for worse.

S2E7 // "Tell the Bees": What Animals Know And We've Forgotten (Dr. Jesse Vallecillo) Listen now | What can we learn from veterinary science about healing the fragmentation between humanity and creation?

"Stepping into the wilderness of Lent, I am confronted not by emptiness but by overgrowth—the thorns and briars of busyness, the dense canopy of commitments that have choked out the light without my noticing. Most of the time, what threatens my soul is not any kind of lack, but rather excess. There are too many good things, too many worthy tasks, too many fun races and writing projects and good books crowding out what actually sustains life. In this kind of wilderness, I struggle not with how to survive a barren landscape but with how to just clear enough space in the excess to catch a glimpse of the light."

https://nicoleroccas.substack.com/p/thoughts-on-entering-lent-and-welcoming

Is there such a thing as helpful shame? How do we navigate the fine lines between toxic shame, humility, and life-giving repentance? Was Christ traumatized on the Cross, and why does that question matter to both our christology and our healing?

These are some of the questions Eleni and I got to talk with Fr. Stephen Freeman about in today's episode of the Re-Creation Podcast. Listen on Substack or wherever you get podcasts.

S2E3 // Knowing God beyond our Shame (Guest: Fr. Stephen Freeman) Can shame ever be helpful? Find out in this episode as we talk with special guest Fr. Stephen Freeman.

One of the hardest spiritual questions many of us face on the healing journey (myself included) is this: How do we understand ourselves as sinners in a way that’s actually safe and life-giving--not an abyss of self-hatred?

This can be a tricky thing, especially if abuse, cruelty, or chronic shame has been part of one's experience. Survival may have meant taking the blame, becoming the scape goat, or shrinking ourselves to keep the peace. When we emerge from those experiences, the church’s language of sin and repentance can feel like one more like one more brick in the wall of self-loathing.

But what if there’s another way to hear these words? What if our “sinner status,” rightly understood, could be a path toward freedom rather than self-destructiveness?

These are some of the topics we explore in the latest episode of the Re-Creation Podcast with Dr. Peter Bouteneff , Professor of Theology at St Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary and author of one of my favourite practical theology books, _How to Be a Sinner_. It’s an important conversation, all the more timely as Lent approaches, and one I’m especially grateful to share with you. Listen wherever you get podcasts!

https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/p/s2e2-how-to-be-a-sinner-after-trauma