The Fall, Then Falling Apart Since May 19, 2023, my life has transformed. I was in the Florida Keys, ready to race my ninth Keys 100 ultramarathon, running from Key Largo to Key West, when I learned my dad had fallen and was taken away in an ambulance. I withdrew from the race—one of my dad’s favorites, where he’d worked…
Tag: writing
Most Memorable Books of 2019
2019 was the year of quirky, raw, haunting, and lyrical novels for me. Of the fiction list noted below, Family of Origin by CJ Hauser was the most notable novel of the year for me – the writing was fresh and gorgeous, and the main characters, with all of their flaws, were spirited and empathetic. A close second was Rushdie’s…
Best Books of 2018
Powerful stories do great things to our psyche and spirit. They enable us to grow and dream and know and experience; they induce awareness and empathy. From Scot Jurek’s journey across the Appalachian Trail to Barry Cohen’s jaunt across America via Greyhound in Shteyngart’s Lake Success, I am grateful for the expeditions written words afford me and obliged to these…
On Writing
I started writing as a young girl because stories materialized in my mind, like waking dreams, and I found that when I started to write them down, details unraveled: a stray cat walking down my block evolved into a story about a house cat who had lost his way after his owner had dropped him off miles away from home…
Breakfast With My Dad
We were never a family to sit down and have breakfast growing up – my dad left for work each day around 7 am and my brothers and I likely left for school a bit later. Food was not part of our morning routine. As I grew older, early mornings meant run and yoga time, with my adventures starting earlier…
Cultivating Your Career Story
“If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you now it’s not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That’s why it’s your path. – Joseph Campbell Culturally, we are storytellers. We move through our lives listening to and narrating stories pertaining to our childhood, stories of how…
IMPACT
The past year, in my life as a professor, I asked myself daily before I walked into each class what my goal was. That kept it real for me. It helped me to get out of my own way, forget my to-do lists, and set the tone for each session. The goal, always, was to engage my students, share knowledge,…
Where are you going; Where have you been?
I moved. After ten years in one place, I displaced myself. There were mounds of clothes and books and stuff to give away. There were items to sort through—papers, letters, writings. I found over 60 short stories that I had written as an undergrad and later as a graduate student; often, there were endless drafts of each one, including notes on how to rework the stories…
Writing Tips for Professionals
Writing is a part of our everyday lives from early on. We write during our scholastic careers—narrative essays, creative endeavors, research papers, and academic arguments—and we keep on writing as we delve into our professional careers, in the form of resumes and cover letters, and on to corporate and/or creative proposals. Not to mention emails, texts, white papers, and presentations.…
Advice to College Students: Be Awesome!
Some tips to help you to uncover your fearless, amazing, and aspiring self. Laugh, smile, have fun. Take all that life has to offer you with a sense of humor and an open heart. Life won’t always be fun, but that doesn’t mean it’s all struggle and strife, either. Your attitude will guide how you react to the various situations…