Hey Reader! Men show up in your house without a warrant and take your husband away. No one will tell you where he is, if he’s safe or what crime he’s committed. They won’t even confirm that they’re arresting him. The men are armed but in plain clothes. They show you no badges or IDs to prove the authority they have to invade your home and abduct your loved one. They take your husband and disappear. If this happened to you, would you be okay with this? The government decides they don’t want...
9 days ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader! When I was younger and far more pretentious, I believed that time alone in a wooded cabin was all I’d need to blossom into the artist I was fated to become. In those days, I did a lot of theater and sports, and I formed superstitions around both. After all, I was convinced what I ate, wore and did affected my performance. So I kept careful watch over my actions and blamed mistakes on missing some cue or another. Each time, I redoubled my faith in empty ritual. And stayed stuck....
17 days ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader! One of my favorite T-shirts proclaims, "Joy Is an Act of Resistance." If you remember your time in elementary school, you've seen how this works: Teacher tries to shut someone down. The suppressed kid acts up behind the teacher's back. Class erupts in laughter. Teacher struggles to regain control. The stricter the teacher, the more joy we felt in rebelling, and the more humiliating the experience seemed to them. Why is this? Control is an illusion We can't control what other...
23 days ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader! There are many things for which I'm grateful. Being self-employed is one of them. My flexible work schedule means I don't have to beg anyone for time off if I need to take my sick kid to the doctor or spend a morning running errands. For example, I spent today's lunch hour at a flash mob protest. Why protest? I registered as an Independent voter when I was eighteen, and I've never changed that. I've consistently voted for people versus their party alignment. My political...
30 days ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader! It's been millions of years since our lives depended on being suspicious of everything, yet our negativity bias lingers. And those with ADHD are even more likely to fixate on negative news. With so much of the world in upheaval, being constantly on the alert can be exhausting. So, this week's challenge is an antidote to all that gloom and doom. Capture good things as they happen I keep an open mason jar beside a pad and pen in my bedroom. Whenever something cool or delightful...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader! When you were a kid were you allowed to feel your feelings? Or did you feel you needed to act happy and make everyone laugh? Were you threatened with a beating if you cried? Or encouraged to pretend you weren’t feeling bad because it might make others feel bad? There are so many lessons we learn when we’re young from our family. One of the hardest lessons to unlearn is that it’s bad to share our feelings. That being emotional at all is a bad, weak or womanly thing. Holding onto...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Hey Reader! When Jews fleeing Egypt stood at the water’s edge, what did they feel? In those moments before the Red Sea’s waters parted, did they wonder if God had abandoned them? Were they ready to die rather than return and submit themselves to Pharoah’s yoke? Shabbat Shirah: The Sabbath of Song This past weekend, I had the honor of participating in a multi-faith sabbath of song, celebrating the liberation of the oppressed. This decades-long tradition, involving musical artists from Baptist,...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader! Before I get into this week's challenge, I wanted to ask you a favor. If you've read NeuroNet or Song of Lyran, please leave a review of the book on Goodreads, Audible, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or wherever you purchased a copy. It will help people find me -- right now, you can't search Kristi Casey on Amazon and find my books because I need 3 more reviews. Please help people find me and not Kristy Casey! What you write doesn't have to be complex. Short, two-word, five-star reviews...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader! Do you remember the story of Pandora’s Box? Pandora was left alone with a box and told not to open it. But, being a normal, curious human being, she did. To her horror, all the evils of the world rushed out. She rushed to close it, but all the evils escaped, except for one. Hope. Pandora shut the box, keeping hope locked tight within. That story always bothered me. Was it trying to tell us that hope was a good thing? Or was it intimating that it was the worst evil of them all?...
2 months ago • 2 min read