Living on a hill.
I grew up living in a house on a huge hill. And I later ended up buying a house for myself on a huge hill. You know what living on huge hills is great for? A view. You know what living on huge hills is definitely not great for? A walk. I was in […]
Your Own Personal Order of Difficulty.
During the majority of my lengthy career in education, I, like many teachers and counselors you know, had a second job. One of them was a brief stint with a prestigious company offering high-end ACT prep classes. It was taught in a building in the heart of downtown and when I drove by that building […]
Fortune Cookies and Optimistic Action.
Please pick a number between 1 and 10. Really. Pick it. Got it?? Ok, now kindly hold on to it for a moment. When I retired from education about a year and a half ago, my tribe of girlfriends threw me a brunch. It was so kind of them. I decided I wanted to […]
A well-timed read
Almost exactly 10 years ago, when I was just a few months into a new job and trying desperately to keep my head above water, I came across an article that I knew contained something valuable. I bookmarked it and moved on – to the seemingly more important things I had going on at the […]
Project 8/40 and 5 emails that might change you.
Several years ago I read an article by Michael Thompson about 4 types of emails to send every week. The idea stuck with me – so much so that I adapted it into a personal project. During my last one hundred days of working for my school district I decided to send 100 notes, texts […]
The Little Red Hen and what’s stopping us.
One of the folktales I remember my mom telling me when I was little was called “The Little Red Hen.” If you’re of a certain age, you probably recall the story. But in case you don’t, here’s the Little Golden Book edition: Once there was a Little Red Hen who lived in a barnyard […]
Credibility counts.
I grew up with a Dad who placed a high value on his credibility. He was a renowned physician, researcher, speaker, and administrator – and a son, brother, husband, dad, uncle, grandpa, friend, and disciple of Jesus. Was he able to be all of those things because other people – and God – trusted […]
Pancakes and that extra step.
You may or may not know that there is one extra step required in order to make pancakes fluffy. Pancakes are not my specialty, so I’m as surprised as you are that I know this, nevertheless, I do. Dee Brown says “The average person will gravitate towards what’s comfortable, familiar, and doesn’t require extra effort.” […]
Being who you’ve always wanted to be.
(artwork by Caytie Frampton – @caytiediddesigns) My sister Caytie is an artist. She always has been. She is super talented and proficient in drawing, and sketching, and hand-lettering, and doodling, – and painting. Or, so I thought. Two months ago she sent me a text. “I’ve been doing some painting……” What? I thought she […]
4 Quitting Questions.
School is getting out next week in my neck of the woods and my teenage clients, for the most part, are thrilled! About a fourth of my client-base are teenagers and almost every one of them is most looking forward to not having to do math over the summer. Perhaps you know a teenage […]
