So often life is reduced to platitudes:"Time heals all wounds""It's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all""Nobody can make you happy until you are happy with yourself first""Happiness comes from within""Happiness is not trying or finding, it's deciding" While there is some wisdom to be gleaned from these sayings...it's... Continue Reading →
We Have to Fail, Before We Can Succeed
During the Fall semester, my students were writing for our memoir unit. And once again, I had shared with them pieces that I have written. (If you haven't read, I wrote about the post "Be Brave. Still Believe." a couple years ago.) But when it came time for them to write their own memoir pieces,... Continue Reading →
Small Steps = Big Progress
Many years ago, right before I got married, I created an email that reflected what would become my new name and the year that we were getting married. This has been the email that I have used for more than a decade. This is the email that has reflected who I was for those years.... Continue Reading →
Finding Our Inner Light
I was reminded recently that each of us has a light inside of us. It is this light that shows us the best parts of ourselves and guides us to be the best person we can be. It is so easy to forget about that light when life gets difficult. We allow the darkness of... Continue Reading →
A Perfect Union of Opposites
In a movie I was watching, one of the characters had a yin yang tattoo representing the perfect union of opposites. For some reason this line alone was what stood out to me about the film and got me thinking most. I think that more of us need to have a yin yang tattoo. Well,... Continue Reading →
Take a Gamble
It's so easy to put up walls after going through something difficult - whatever that might be. It's so easy to close off everyone else and keep things "safe" for yourself. It's easy to learn how to only look out for yourself and keep yourself from being vulerable again - because when you're vulnerable, you... Continue Reading →
Beauty in Difficulty
Divorce is hard.Therapy is hard.Collecting the pieces of yourself is hard.Life is hard. And yet - each and every one of these things, each difficult thing we face is beautiful. (I'm sorry, what?!) It's true. In the midst of each one of our difficult moments, they suck - and they suck hard. But when we... Continue Reading →
The End of a Chapter; The Beginning of a New Book
I was afraid to close the book as the last chapter drew to an end. I was afraid to let the story go. I was afraid of the emptiness— the helplessness, that fills you when your favorite story ends in disaster and not "happily ever after." I was afraid of what it would mean to... Continue Reading →
An Open Letter to the High School Class of 2020
My dearest seniors, As your teacher my heart breaks with you with the official announcement that in-person learning has been cancelled for the rest of the school year. I think we all knew that this announcement was coming, and yet I know we were holding out hope that we could have at least met for... Continue Reading →
Finding Stability During Instability
#StayAtHome It's a hashtag that is all over the place on social media all around the world. And yet, it's something that many people are struggling with. Changes happened so quickly that we've barely had a chance to adjust. Many students and teachers (myself included) left school thinking they would be leaving only for the... Continue Reading →
time of my life 