October 2020 I’m going to say something that might rustle your feathers. We’ve got to be careful about the pedestal we’re placing under Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I know that sounds sacrilegious but let me tell you what I mean. I admire RBG. She was a true agent of change, an advocate for women’s rights, and […]
September 2020 Hindsight is 2020. What does that mean to you? I never thought I’d be saying it means, “I’m sick and tired of 2020 and want it to just go away. I want to put it in my hindsight. Behind me. In the past. Finito.” Like Jo Dee Messina’s lyrics: Bye Bye love I’ll catch you […]
August 2020 Oh. My. God. Will you stop leaving your dirty dishes in the sink when the dishwasher is right there? Or if the dishwasher is clean, how about unloading it? Sound familiar? I feel like I’m negotiating more than ever before. Living in shared households and confined spaces creates real stress on all […]
July 2020 I have more on my mind than ever before. Fewer places to go means more time to think. And more time to feel. I have so many feelings these days that my brain feels foggy. It’s hard to focus and I’m inexplicably crying at the most random moments. My physical body feels […]
June 2020 April 4, 1968. I was a six-year-old white girl, living in a predominantly black neighborhood in Seattle when Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot. My parents, perpetual activists on topics including race, had been trying to help me understand the concept of racial inequity and to explain why one of our […]
May 2020 How ya feelin’? I’ve been asking that question a lot. My highly unscientific personal research indicates that half of the people I’ve talked to over the past couple of weeks feel that their days are consumed with guilt. Guilt for watching too much TV. Guilt for letting the kids do the same. Guilt for late-night […]
April 2020 During my adult life, I’ve lived through three major moments of global trepidation and uncertainty: the September 11 attacks, the economic crash of 2009/2010 and the current COVID-19 outbreak. In each case, our intertwined global community shifted from familiarity, safety and a reliable cadence into a discordant and uncertain day-to-day existence without […]
March 2020 I’ve had a number of responses to this newsletter from people who feel that human interactions aren’t always as positive and supportive as I report. A couple of recipients have even asked to be removed from the list because my view of the world feels like a disconnect for them. “Women don’t […]
February 2020 This month’s thoughts are dedicated to Katie. I don’t know her last name. Katie works at the front desk of a hotel where I was planning to stay before my TEDx Sonoma talk in January. In fact, I had already checked into the hotel and put my clothes away before I realized that the venue […]
January 2020 For many of us, that question can summon up a range of feelings, from self-consciousness and embarrassment to insecurity and even paranoia. What are others seeing? Do I seem like I have my act together? Am I being too aloof or self-absorbed? Was that joke actually funny? Do these pants make my butt […]