Sometimes, when a baby tree grows a lot of branches all over and you want to guide its shape, you have to cut off some perfectly healthy ones to yield better results down the road. Right now, this blog is a healthy branch of my tree of projects. As it turns out, time is finite. … Read more
I’ve been having problems with my ankles. “Well, you’re getting older.” It’s not inherently or exclusively an age problem, and I fiercely resist this mindset. Lots of people my age and older—including much older—don’t have problems with their ankles. If it was an age problem, most people my age and older would share this problem. … Read more
Still sweating from my run, bent at the hips, fingers touching my shoes, I noticed the artwork on my legs. An old scar from a bike accident. A newer scar from falling while trail running. A pair newer than that from tripping while running up stone steps. And a large bruise from last week. We … Read more
Piggybacking on last week’s post about knowing your strengths—if you don’t know what skills you have that other people don’t, you typically can’t help them or teach them very well. For example: I’m not good at starting conversations with people I don’t know without context. Not one of my strengths. In a variety of contexts … Read more
In my book club, we were talking about people not being aware of their own strengths, or downplaying them. I mentioned that this was the theme of a blog post that I’ve been trying to write, but it’s resisting being written, so it’s not publishable yet. One of the ladies requested I write about the … Read more
If I’m giving focus to something, maybe I just want to get it done, and maybe it’s something enjoyable that I want to give my time and energy to. Either way, I want to stay focused. The pinging of the phone is as disruptive to my focus as the alarm clock is to my sleep. … Read more
I am a runner. I don’t love running, but I don’t hate it, either, and it does many good things for my body and my mental health. I love how I feel after running and I hate how I feel if I go too many days without running. I’m slow, and I don’t run long … Read more
Running stone steps with tired legs, I fell and split open my knee, or just below my knee. As part of the assessment as to whether or not it needed stitches, I was told that it would probably leave less or no scar if it received formal medical attention. That’s not really important to me … Read more
Sometimes, we find ourselves in an emotional ditch, and we need to breathe for a minute, drink a glass of water, take a walk around the block, and pull ourselves out of it. Not everything is a “bootstraps” situation, so sometimes when we find ourselves in an emotional ditch, we need to ask for help. … Read more
I was walking along the canal with a girlfriend. It was early morning but the sun was up. We had a conversation about passers-by. She doesn’t trust them. She checked out everyone who came towards us with a quick glance over her shoulder after we’d passed them. It didn’t matter who they were, how many … Read more