Poem for a Sunday Morning

February 16                                               An early morning fog. In fair weather, the shy past keeps its distance. Old loves, old regrets, old humiliations look on from afar. They stand back under the trees. No

Poem for a Sunday Morning

Pocket Poem {Ted Kooser) If this comes creased and creased again and soiled as if I’d opened it a thousand times to see if what I’d written here was right, it’s all because I looked too long for you to put in your pocket. Midnight says the little gifts of loneliness come wrapped by nervous

Truth and Consolation

Everything in the first list is true. Everything in the second list is also true. TRUTH Life is hard.* You are not important. Your life is not about you. You are not in control. You are going to die CONSOLATION Yes, it’s hard. It’s also joyful and magnificent. Which do you choose to focus on?

#48 – Letting Go

Of expectations Of how it’s “supposed to be” Of old hurts Of waiting for other people to “get” you Of old patterns Of smallness Of hoarding Of dualism Of negativity Of waiting to be “picked” Of isolation Of separation Of the facade Of control Of fear Of silence Of what no longer serves you, your

#27 – Mature Idealism

This is #27 in the series, “50 Ideas Worth Fighting For.” Here’s another, just for fun. The summer after my sophomore year of college I stayed on campus to work on the conferences and events team. We made beds, hauled supplies and were continuously “on call” for the many groups who used the university’s facilities

#25 – Take Responsibility for Your Learning

This is #25 in the series, “50 Ideas Worth Fighting For.” Here’s another good one. Jia Jang is inspiring. He feared rejection so much that he decided to pursue it directly with the hope that he would learn to respond to it more positively and more productively. He recounts his “100 Day Rejection Challenge” in a

#20 – It’s ok to be “Good Enough”

This is #20 in the series, “50 Ideas Worth Fighting For.” Here’s another one I keep going back to. The following passage is from an article by Jennifer Kunst in which she provides a compelling interpretation of Donald Winnicott’s theory of the “good enough mother.” As you read it I invite you to do so in a way

#14 – Tell the truth as fast as you can

This is #14 in the series, “50 Ideas Worth Fighting For.” Sounds good, right? It’s almost obvious, a little bit patronizing even. And, yet. It can be very hard to do. How long do you sit on your feelings, questioning them, rationalizing them, negating them? How often do you rehearse difficult conversations in your mind,

#11 – There is no “There”

This is #11 in the series, “50 Ideas Worth Fighting For” There is no “there.” There is only next. In the domain of human development and learning, arrival is a myth. Awareness and action are the currency of the realm. It’s a currency that cannot buy completion or entitlement to a finish line. It can

#10 – “Development” is a Verb

This is #10 in the series, “50 Ideas Worth Fighting For.” Development is an action. Like any effective action it requires insight and planning (reflection) to precede it but, at its core, development is about forward movement and progress. This is not to convey an image of “leaps and bounds” but of an active progression