Hey Reader! Yesterday, Kristyn Medeiros of the Flying Upstream Podcast invited me to join her on air. Those 30 minutes were a highlight of my day. As we discussed the nature of creativity and how we can get unstuck, I had to opportunity to think out loud about why we end up getting disconnected from our creative source and each other. I got to share why I write the way I do, how I fell into music and some of my thoughts about how we can find our purpose in life. If you’re trying to figure out...
9 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! Whenever I'm visiting a coastal city, I look for the lighthouses. There's something about those lonely towers, casting illumination over dark and troubled waters that speaks to me. I love that the lighthouses are both signs of safety and warning. They can help troubled sailors find safe harbor. Or they can warn unsteady ones that they may need to find an easier place to anchor. There is a lot of turbulence in the air right now. There's a lot of propaganda and noise. There are...
16 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! Over the weekend, I went to a dinner at a friend’s house. They went to get me a drink and didn’t return, so I went to check on them. As it turns out, they got stuck at the refrigerator, trying to figure out which of the fruity drinks I’d brought might go with pasta. Neither watermelon nor lemonade felt like a good match, so they were trying to think of a different plan. I was touched by their concern. “I’ll be fine with wine,” I assured them. “But I love that you were trying to...
23 days ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! Traveling around this summer? Sticking close to home to visit with family? Or a combination of both? One of the things I love about travel as it underlines how similar we all are, no matter the outward trappings or varied locales, there are some basic ways in which we're all just human beings, doing our best. But ... things here are tense, and our shared humanity is something people seem hard-pressed to remember. Consequently, you may need a communication strategy for when things...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader! It's super easy to get overwhelmed . . . . . . by news, family, work, anxiety . . . You name it! When we get overwhelmed, enjoying ourselves becomes tough. When we're not enjoying ourselves, we forget that the point of living isn't just working ourselves to the bone. We're meant to have fun and enjoy life. Productivity obsession sucks the fun out of work. Part of the problem is that Americans live in a productivity-obsessed culture that can make work hard to enjoy. Publicly held...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader! I've spent much of my adult life working with associations and nonprofits, often as the youngest in the room. When I was twenty, that didn't surprise me. Thirty years later, it's concerning. Associations and nonprofits everywhere need a surge of new talent. Without that, their future is uncertain. After all, if I'm the youngest at 51, who will take over when I retire? How do you engage people? That's why I was invited to speak at a local gathering last night. Initially, I was...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader! Every spring, my friends have a ritual. They pilgrimage to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (JazzFest). They travel without flags and poles to signal their position in the crowd. No coolers or blankets lay claim to a patch they camp out on all day. Foldable chairs remain in the car. For a weekend, all that matters is music, and they follow the sound of horns from stage to stage, knowing that wherever they end up, it will be good. After more than two decades of pilgrimage,...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader! There’s a lot we absorb as kids that we drag with us into adulthood. We may not even remember the lesson, but it shows up in our inner voice as that critical voice acting like it’s the fun police. It makes you feel guilty for laughing too loud, or having that extra cookie, or whatever you got yelled at when you were little. We’ve been conditioned to be silent If you went through school, chances are you got yelled at to sit down and shut up. Or, if you were a quiet kid, you watched...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader! Spring is such a hopeful season. Meadows fill with baby deer, bunnies, and animals of all kinds. Long-dormant trees sprout fresh, green leaves, while flowers vie for attention with their vibrant colors and abundant blooms. Everything springs to life, all at once, in a joyful riot. It's enough to make your heart sing. Celebrations abound Religious holidays echo the world's glorious rebirth. The repentant season of Ramadan has ended, allowing our Muslim friends to walk into spring...
2 months ago • 1 min read