What's something you would attempt if you were guaranteed not to fail. Failure is a part of living. Almost anything we try has the potential to disappoint us and others. Failure is the great teacher. Failure teaches the lessons that success almost never does. The lessons that failure teaches me remain with me more intensely … Continue reading My Teacher, Failure
What was the hardest personal goal you've set for yourself? The pandemic changed many of my personal habits. I worked more and more from home and spent more of time reading, writing, and meeting online. Prior to the arrival of the pandemic and its resultant shutdowns, I walked daily 3-5 miles. During the pandemic, I … Continue reading Bringing My Body Back Online
Who are your favorite artists? One of my graduate school requirements was to take an art class (yes, in seminary!). In the first class, I remember vividly the professor, herself an artist, said to us: Everyone is an artist. Then she looked carefully around the room, meeting each set of eyes, saying, “Yes, you are … Continue reading Everyone An Artist
What would you do if you lost all your possessions? I find these hypothetical questions challenging and interesting. Since my answer is conceptual, I am only imagining how I would be impacted by losing all possessions. Writing about this question has invited deep self-reflection. I discovered some attachments I did not want to admit. Here … Continue reading Stuff: A Slippery Slope
Sunday afternoon waxes The morning rush wanes Slow tempo Quiet grace Dawdling No agenda No guilt Permissive Spacious gift Notions of wasted time Dissipate in repose Celebrate living Thrive Disabused of notions Anything requires doing Nothing calls Only respite
What's a topic or issue about which you’ve changed your mind? The question from the prompt is really, "Have you changed your opinion about anything?" What a question! Am I alive? Well then, my opinions1 about everything are constantly in flux no matter what I tell myself. Opinions Change, Sometimes Often Opinions. "Has my opinion … Continue reading A Transformed Mind
Tell us about a time when you felt out of place. I arrived for my first day of the first-grade. Ms. Key was my teacher. I did not know her; I did not know anyone in my class. I did not like riding the bus. I did not like much that day. Thus, I began … Continue reading Not My Place, Not My People
Anxious Uncertain wanting to say something habit, not want no-thing needs saying no-thing rising to say
Your life without a computer: what does it look like? I spent about half of my life without computers as household gadgets. Heck, I still remember going to work with my Dad one Saturday at the computer room in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s; he worked in a frigid room that housed part of a computer. … Continue reading Handwriting and Board Games
What skill would you like to learn? At one point in my life, conflict aversion was a core personality trait with the makings of a nickname, as in, “Just call me Conflict-Avoider.” My key skills in conflict-avoidance included, but were not limited to: Sprint away from the approach of perceived conflict; If the other person … Continue reading Dealing with the Unavoidable: Conflict
Infinitely Precious 