I used to have this reoccurring dream that I was on the edge of a steep cliff walking and walking. There were cars zipping by me. I had terrible anxiety that I was going to fall off the cliff at any moment, and I could not see a single thing off of the edge. I …
A few years ago I decided to learn to run. I was needing more aerobic exercise and I was tired of paying for a gym membership to do an elliptical (which I almost never used). I have always been scared of running, for a couple of reasons. One, at a certain point (like 2 minutes …
Courage is a common word in my house. I mean courage in the Latin-sense of the word, cor-with heart. Courage with heart is about perseverance and thoughtfulness. It is about finding a moral compass within yourself, and acting with kindness in the direction. It is about avoiding rash, unproductive or irrational behavior in order to …
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. ~Kahlil Gibran Sean Eric Today is my youngest brother's birthday. It is the second year I have marked the occasion without him. It is a day that almost feels suspended in time, a space where, for a moment, I cannot move. …
White Sands National Park Sometimes living in the desert I am struck by how harsh the living conditions are. Just a few miles up the Sandia Mountains on the outskirts of Albuquerque, the landscape is dry and hot, filled with cacti and rattlers. It is not a hike for the faint at heart, or those …
I've been thinking about teaching and teachers a lot recently. Having been a writing teacher for many years, some of my own fondest teachable moments happened to me in my writing classroom. I made a lot of mistakes and I grew up in my classroom. I tried grand experiments that utterly failed, and I apologized. …
