After 30 years in education, I would admit that I’ve heard my fair share of commencement speeches—some memorable, others not. There is often an underlying theme of something along the lines of “go out and conquer the world.” I even ask, that during a life calling assignment, my students listen to an excerpt from a …
Category: College Teaching
Asking Over Assuming
Recently, I was the beneficiary of several intriguing insights while engaging in a Walk and Talk with Makayla, one of which relates to how we both delight when an author uses a phrase that captures a concept we’ve been mulling over, especially when we have been struggling to articulate it in a specific way. Even …
Stick With It
Understanding that self-reflection, for some, is not considered an enjoyable or worthwhile activity, I hope you will indulge me today. Perhaps this question will not be too challenging as you consider your life up to this point: Is there an activity you’ve faithfully engaged in, something that now you are grateful you were able to …
CTRL+ALT+DEL
Control-Alt-Delete might be a meaningless and random piecing together of computer keys for the younger generations accustomed to typing on a screen rather than a keyboard, but for those of us Gen Xers, CTRL+ALT+DEL was a desperate measure to reboot our computers. This “soft reboot” was designed by an IBM engineer as an internal way …
Intrusive Thoughts
You’re not even worth a slice of pizza, Julie! Believe it or not, that thought played through my mind recently and I’m not joking. Although I am laughing it off today because I recognize that it was an exaggerated and Intrusive Thought, it was a very real one that played over and over in my …
Unrealistic Expectations
Imagine scanning social media one morning and coming across the headline Jones Steps Down as Sports Information Director. Not necessarily an attention-grabber for most readers, but this press release was being shared by respected colleagues in the field of what is currently known as athletic communications, mostly in efforts to draw attention to the Unrealistic …
Sweet Spot
The new tennis rackets are lighter, stronger, and have a bigger Sweet Spot. The pitcher grooved a fastball right into the Sweet Spot of the DH, resulting in a massive grand slam! In the sports world it is not uncommon to hear an athlete or coach speak of this magical space that allows an athlete …
Wrestling Coach
Academic people intimidate me. Yes, I comprehend the irony of that statement but it’s also accurate. To prove this statement even further, I will confess a true event: I once returned the book provided for a faculty dialogue group because I didn’t understand it! Fortunately, this has only happened once and the opportunity to converse …
Grateful Disposition
During a casual conversation (or therapy session) while walking with a friend, I posed the question, “What comes to mind when I mention the word disposition?” Not wanting to influence her answer, I was reluctant to explain further the reason for this odd inquiry, but she’s accustomed to my random curiosities, so she humored me. …
Purple Squirrels
If you’ve read the posts Racing to Roam or Bucket List, then you are familiar with my journey to complete races across the country, which has often led me to small towns with a unique mixture of attributes or histories. However, since fulfilling the task of all 50 states in 2021, the focus has shifted …
Flourishing @ Life 