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AMERICAN STEW, A RECIPE OF HOPE AND HEALTH

American stew, in spite of the name, is a delicate dish with a layered flavor profile. The ingredients are common to most every country, but the preparation and cooking temperature are the biggest difference. What American stew is not, is half-baked. It’s also not for diners who eat out of cans with a plastic fork, […]

STEP UP TO LIFE CHALLENGES FOR A BETTER LOOK

Life challenges are all around, whether we see them, act on them, or ignore them. Like a slow leak in a car tire, you eventually notice. Then what?

HOW TO KEEP HOPE ALIVE WHEN THINGS FEEL HOPELESS

Keeping hope alive might sound like some Pollyanna talk. Keep hope alive, like it’s dying or something? Who believes that? Well, until a new level of dread arrives, no one. It’s all good, right up until it’s not. That’s when hope starts to fade.

HEALING HEART STARTS IN THE KITCHEN

If making a difference matters, and it does, a healing heart is important. But, you know this, right? Model a healing heart like no one is watching.

HOPE IN ONE HAND, AND IT’S ENOUGH

Art is defined by hope. As in, “I hope people like my work.” Turns out people like Grant Wood’s American Gothic just fine.

MINDHUNTER + TALKING TO STRANGERS = YIKES

I started watching Mindhunter halfway through reading Malcolm Gladwell’s recent book, Talking To Strangers. It’s a strange combination ranging from creepy to creepier. Mindhunter tells about the FBI effort to understand what motivates serial killers. If that’s not creepy enough, the killers they interview had attacked women.

WRITING THE BOOK I WAS DESTINED TO WRITE

    An English major joke goes like this: I like to write poetry, but I suck at writing poetry. So I wrote a short story that was worse than my poem. To fix the problem I wrote a novel and it’s the worst yet, and this explains the deluge of bad writing.

HONOR CODE: BEAT THE SYSTEM OR CHEAT THE SYSTEM

    Before anyone tries to beat the system, and if that fails, cheat the system, the most important thing to do is define the system. Does it have an honor code?   What is they system? Should you even try to beat it, or cheat it? If you have a personal honor code, there’s […]

Forgiveness Work, Once You Start It Never Ends

    The hardest part about forgiveness work is knowing where to stop. And when.   If life is spinning out of control and you’re grasping for a line, a branch, a helping hand, forgiveness may not be the first thing on your mind. Hard to forgive anything with the roof crashing down and the […]

PRE-EXISTING CONDITION AFTER CANCER DIAGNOSIS

The day a cancer diagnosis becomes a pre-existing condition   Like we learn everyday when things change, everybody is different. What you do after a cancer diagnosis isn’t the same as someone else. They might go along their way as if hearing a bee buzzing nearby. Shoo, cancer/bee. Or they might fall down on their […]