How does one boldly handle irritability that arises for no particular reason or at least has nothing to do with the innocents who cross one’s path? I have an idea that total withholding of the snappishness that longs to surface isn’t good for the relationships. But neither is the full-strength snapping. Intellectually I know that […] Read More

Today I’m fulminating primarily on the Mystic-Lit blog. The title is “The Greasy Elements Approach to Writing.” Doesn’t that title entice you? The basic idea is to improve creativity by visually dislodging and breaking up the frozen clusters of words and images so that they interact in new ways. Doing Word Jumbles is my laboratory […] Read More

One day my husband was at our house when the woman who cleans for us every other Thursday arrived. She does a superb job, and so often adds special personal touches. Bob inquired about her way of going about her work that led to such results. She said her approach is to “do it with […] Read More

…by supporting the Brussels Chamber Orchestra’s visit to North Carolina this summer. This is one bold project that is being launched from the office next to mine. First an intro: The BCO is a group of 12 remarkable twenty-something musicians from 6 countries, based in Brussels, Belgium. Playing without a conductor, they are a marvel […] Read More

How to encourage courage is a field of research that surely has potential for enormous impact on the world, and on individual lives. I just ran across some interesting findings on the Leading With Lift blog on “Where is the Courage in Organizations.” As a nearly-lifelong freelancer who comes from a family of DIY-ers, I’ve […] Read More

Monday afternoon and night, I was very tired. So I ate a lot. Not exactly logical or a solution to the problem, but overeating felt like the right thing to do. I’ve long known that a gutsy move would be to learn how to figure out which bell is ringing and answer that one: i.e., […] Read More

Want to see a thrilling eruption of talent, to watch someone boldly and delightedly living and enjoying her big dream? Go hear Susan Boyle sing. It’s a moment of glory on Britain’s Got Talent. It even warmed the heart of Simon Cowell. Very moving and inspiring. It’ll make you want to cheerfully belt out your […] Read More

Easter was at my house yesterday. Relatives drove three hours each way to eat lunch with us. Since I’m famously not a cook, expectations were low on their side and anticipatory tension notable on mine. I served heated up take-out from a Whole Foods grocery, and Husband Bob, who is more of a cook than […] Read More

The pig spa that I wrote about here a couple of weeks ago has been rivaled in real life. A travel story in my local paper had turned out to be an April Fool’s trick on us readers. I believed it—and then posted here about the bold deception. The story described an inn where the […] Read More

A fellow I know just got a blast of highly personal, heavily negative national publicity. It’s the kind of scrutiny of a person that borders on inhuman, every aspect of his life touched on. It must take big-time courage to show up at work, at lunch, at the gym, or wherever, after that kind of […] Read More