Obsessed with planning and the future, a daughter learns how to live in the moment as her mother approaches end of life.
How a serial planner learned to live one day at a time
You are not your job
My mom calls her terminal pancreatic cancer her constant companion. It's an acknowledgment that it's a part of her identity now, and it got me thinking about her full identity, all the things that make her who she is. And I realized that "teacher," her profession for forty years, hasn't been a topic of conversation... Continue Reading →
Ignoring the lizard brain
My beloved mother will die from pancreatic cancer. Her time in this life is being measured in months. I will write more about this in the future as I have so much to share about my mother's journey towards the inevitable we all face. Her love, bravery, peace, and spiritual strength is quite an experience... Continue Reading →
The lost art of convalescence: 6 things I did while I had pneumonia
Learn how to discover the lost art of convalescence.
Blame the amygdala, but then lean into uncertainty
"Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one." - Voltaire I'm a big fan of 99u, Behance's website and rich content offerings that help empower creatives to make our ideas happen. I just finished the second book, Maximize Your Potential, in their three-part series on making ideas happen. I was again impressed... Continue Reading →
Unlocking the mysteries of motivation
Many of us are counting down the hours to winter break, and I'm sure many of us will use the downtime to think about our goals for the new year and the vision for our life in 2016. I'm excited to share with you a guest post I wrote for UT's Human Dimensions of Organizations... Continue Reading →
Treat yourself with compassion
I'm finally painting again, thanks to a lesson in self-compassion that I received after attending my third seminar (out of four required) in UT's Human Dimensions of Organization "Thinking Smarter" certificate program on November 13. I'm hoping to guest blog for HDO's In the Loop as I have in the past, so I'll hold off... Continue Reading →
The rhythm(s) of Spanish life
The return of the school year has me thinking again about the beauty of routine. I recently wrote about routine here and here, and I can tell you that sticking to my routine and taming distractions is much easier when my daughter is in school. I love summer, but the steadiness and predictability of the school year is... Continue Reading →
How to create a manifesto for your solution
Do you remember the 1996 film in which Tom Cruise's character Jerry Maguire has an epiphany about his job and industry and decides to express a new, contrarian view in a mission statement? Blogs didn't exist yet, so he proceeds to Kinko's to have the mission statement printed and bound with a "Catcher in the Rye"-like cover.... Continue Reading →
Great work must happen before everything else
In my last post, I described what I learned in an offsite with myself on Memorial Day weekend after reading the wonderful book “Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus and Sharpen Your Creative Mind,” a compilation of essays designed to help us find a centered space for creativity by getting out of... Continue Reading →
Where's my paintbrush? 