Change the World… It’s Harriet Tubman for the 20! 20 Apr 20162 Sep 2019 My childhood hero! Why do I love her so much? In second grade, I was a white Yankee girl in Louisiana, bused to a Black school under Supreme Court order. Desegregation,…
Change the World… Everyone has a reason to live 13 Jun 201513 Jun 2015 Jacques Lusseyran went blind at age 8. When he was twice as old, in 1941, he founded one of the key organizations of the French Resistance. His memoir, And There…
Courage… How I Know It’s Your Year! 1 Jan 20131 Jan 2013 Things felt tight last year? Of course! You have been preparing to shed. It made your vision cloudy, too. Aren't you glad it's time to peel back the resistance and…
Courage… Happy Birthday, Reverend Jupiter Hammon! 17 Oct 201117 Oct 2011 Happy 300th birthday to Jupiter Hammon, believed to be the first published African-American author, who even gave fatherly advice to Phillis Wheatley: I pray the living God may be, …
Caring… Hamlet in Prison 12 Jul 201111 Jul 2011 Jack Hitt's hour-long report for This American Life on Hamlet performed by prisoners, originally broadcast in 2002, has inspired me all week with its deep insights about Hamlet and encouragement for…
Caring… Friday Flick: Music with Shining Eyes 8 Jul 201110 Jul 2011 If you've never loved classical music before, give Ben Zander twenty-one minutes to change your heart. If you've loved it already, share this with someone who could use a little…
Blogging… Publishing as Independence 4 Jul 201116 May 2017 "Are you published?" It's the first question an industry outsider will ask, while a fellow writer will get to it eventually, however tactfully. "So tell me about your work!" But…
Blogging… Thanks, I Needed That! 2 Jul 20112 Jul 2011 WordPress showcased "10 Prolific Post a Day/Week Participants," and I'm one of them! Shall I tell you what this meant to me? I realized today how burned out I've become…
Courage… Scheduling Improv 21 Jun 2011 Listening to Krista Tippetts' interview with musician Bobby McFerrin, it first surprised me that he ever considered joining a monastic order, and that the main attraction was the silence! He…
Baby Boomers… Beginning Again? 18 Jun 201118 Jun 2011 Does it feel as though you're always starting over? I'm beginning new projects, new rounds of old projects, new teaching quarter. Therefore, clients and students are doing the same; some…
Caring… Dead Grandmothers 9 Jun 20119 Jun 2011 We've been known to joke about it in faculty meetings: how many grandparents some students can lose in a single year. (And yes, we do name names.) Here's one professor's concerns…
Books… How Do I Know? 6 Jun 2011 A friend asked today, "How do I know if anyone wants to read what I'm going to write?" Great question! Here are my first three thoughts about that: 1) You…