By Justin Markofski
Northside News
1. Tell us about yourself and your life as a Northsider.
I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I used to live on the west side of Madison, and “the Northside” seemed like another planet to me. Eight years later, I am now the one inviting others to venture out to the Northside Farmers Market, hosting business meetings at restaurants along Sherman Avenue, introducing groups to the FEED Kitchens food trucks, and becoming quite the enthusiast of our part of town.
But what has truly made the Northside home for me is the people.
We know dozens of our neighbors by name. We’ve shared meals and celebrations, helped shovel one another’s sidewalks, checked in when someone needed help, and watched each other’s kids grow up. There’s a down-to-earth quality here that I really appreciate.
2. What are some Northside sweet spots, in your estimation?
I’m a big fan of nature, and I feel incredibly grateful to have access to beautiful spaces such as Meadow Ridge Conservation Park and Effigy Mound. I often think that if the woods could talk, they would have a lot to say about my life!
I walk the trails when I’m stressed and need to decompress. I walk with my youngest child to see what flowers are blooming and to share the wonder of encountering deer along the path. I walk with friends who need someone to listen while they sort through difficulties in their lives. And I walk when I simply need a break from my screen and some fresh air.
There are memories layered onto those paths that have been built week over week, year over year. The trails have become a kind of familiar companion through different seasons of my life.
Governors Island is another favorite. In the winter, we’ve taken family and friends who are visiting out onto Lake Mendota. For many of them, it’s their first time walking on a frozen lake — which makes for a pretty memorable introduction to Madison!
3. Please share more about your journey as a spiritual director and writer, including your new book.
When I was in the thick of raising babies and toddlers, Holy Wisdom Monastery became a place I would go for quiet and calm. Although I needed a few hours away from the stress, my heart wasn’t to escape my life as a new mom. Instead, I wanted to find ways to bring my kids along on a spiritual journey.
As my kids started talking and reading, I found myself looking for resources to help them talk about their feelings and the ordinary parts of their lives through prayer. I had the sense that praying to a loving presence who cares about us could provide comfort, peace, and joy, and I wanted my kids to learn that expressing themselves spiritually could be a natural part of everyday life.
My children’s contemplative activity book grew out of that desire. I wanted to create something that would invite children to pay attention — to the deer on the trail, the person sitting across from them, or those moments when something beautiful catches them by surprise.
4. Can you share an overview or examples from the book that will help readers understand its content and purpose?
The book is designed with a variety of pages to engage different personalities. There are spaces to draw and write, along with prompts such as a “Mad Lib Prayer,” “Create a Prayer with a Friend,” and much more.
It isn’t really a book about prayer as much as it is a book that invites kids into wonder, creativity, and fun while building a foundational understanding that talking to God or a Higher Power can be available to us at any time.
I published the book with Spiritual Directors International, which fosters interfaith and inter-spiritual communities. It’s designed to support many different expressions of faith and wonder without naming one specific religion.
5. Who is the primary audience for this children’s contemplative activity book?
A child can use it independently for writing or drawing, but it works especially beautifully when a parent, grandparent, auntie, uncle, or other caregiver sits alongside them.
I recently met a few grandparents on the Northside who have a strong faith tradition but aren’t quite sure how to talk about faith with their grandchildren. Perhaps their adult children have moved away from the religious tradition they grew up in, and they’re looking for a way to share something meaningful without making the conversation feel forced.
I think the book can become a bridge. You can talk about a beautiful sunset, a difficult day, something that made you laugh, or a moment when you felt grateful. The book gives adults and children a place to begin those conversations.
6. What else do you want to share with our Northside News readers?
Over the years, we’ve had the privilege of hosting international students, and what’s interesting is how often people from other countries comment on the friendliness of the Northside. Some have told us that in their home countries, they don’t necessarily know their neighbors. They’re surprised by how many people we know by name and how genuinely people look out for one another.
To us, that can feel completely ordinary. But maybe that’s something worth noticing.
And maybe that’s also what I hope children — and all of us — can learn through contemplative practice: there is more happening around us than we often notice. We just have to slow down enough to see it.
I didn’t expect the Northside to become home. But living here has taught me to pay attention — to place, to people, to nature, and to the questions children ask. That same practice of paying attention is at the heart of my work as a spiritual director and of my new book.
You don’t necessarily have to go somewhere extraordinary to find something meaningful. Sometimes you just have to slow down enough to notice what’s already around you.
