Hello. Just a quick note to say I haven’t abandoned this space. I’m just busy with other endeavors. I’m working on a daily writing project with a writing community and another personal writing project, so I haven’t had as much time to write here. You can read my recent interview…

The waves were choppy on the lake as we headed out to the open water, my friend and I on our kayaks this morning. We fought our way to the calm waters, past the bridge, where the tributary winds between banks crowded with trees. Once there, we talk and paddle…

It was the kind of place where the rays of light catch in perpetual clouds of dust, illuminating the air, making the space feel even bigger. The movement of the horses keeps the “light clouds” in motion in the barn and arena. The instructor in his cowboy hat watched the…

Re-recruit them. It was one of the suggestions in an article on how to keep your employees happy during the Great Resignation. It sounds a bit like marriage advice. How to keep a long-term partner happy? Act like it’s your first date, rekindle the magic. It sounds trite, but I…

“This is a safe space.” The words, meant to invoke an open and sharing environment, are often used to give the sheen of psychological and emotional safety without actually doing the work. If the space is truly “safe,” then you shouldn’t have to say it. I attended a program that…

I had a week filled with words. In the large meetings, words were pushed around between the silences. In the small ones, we rushed breathlessly from overlaps to interruptions. From barely enough words to scrape over the space to too many, crowded and pushed in to each other. These formats…

The choice: I just finished a long day of work. Do I take a nap or a bike ride? I fill my water bottle, grab my helmet, and head off on the bike. Just a half-hour cruise around the neighborhood, feeling the air around me as I make a light…

My job was to tell the truth. Getting there, doing the work, going through the notes, was like putting my hand in a shredder. I could only do it for so long before I would pull my hand back — as instinctive as a quick jerk, a protective reaction. It…

Once upon a time I was on a committee, and it was the highlight of my week. It was a high-functioning productive group without limits. We took on wild ideas, we made things happen. We were structured, disciplined, and flexible. We thought big, but always in regards to the personal…