From the Gnostic Gospels, found in Dani Shapiro’s memoir of her writing life, Still Writing: “If we bring forth what is within us, it will save us. If we do not bring forth what is within us, it will destroy us.” What are you hoarding? Bottling up? Ignoring? Repressing? Avoiding? Not looking for? What little irritations,…… Continue reading Cut to the feeling

I’m sitting here, about two weeks away from the next long coaching seminar weekend and about two weeks away from the start of summer school. With coaching, I’ve been following the program’s Facebook community where people ask questions of each other and offer advice. Two questions I’ve seen come up recently have involved PhD students…… Continue reading A teacher’s heart

Have you ever sulked? Given someone the silent treatment? Waited angrily for someone to figure out how exactly they had injured you without giving them any hints, becoming steadily more angry the longer it took them to a) realize you were mad and b) understand what, exactly, you were mad about? Maybe you’ve been on…… Continue reading Sulking

Today, I’m sharing a collection of quotes about that mysterious thing called love. If I could graph the satisfaction of my current relationship, the first few months would be a line shooting upward at an astounding angle, then the next few months would see the line start to dip downward, slowly, almost imperceptibly, and then…… Continue reading To love another

Integrate: combine (one thing) with another so that they become a whole. Integral: necessary to make a whole complete; essential or fundamental. Integrity: the state of being whole and undivided.   The most current phase of my self-excavation has led me here, to personal integrity, by which so many of the writers and speakers who…… Continue reading Integrity, wholeness, joy, and possibility

The difficult, daily work of detaching my self-worth from my accomplishments marches on and on. Reminding myself that achievement matters less than connection with others and peace with myself is an ongoing practice. Recognizing that I am worthy and I am good even if I don’t have a productive day or get some kind of…… Continue reading You are not your accomplishments

I returned home yesterday morning from a ten-day trip to Atlanta, Jacksonville, Austin, and Waco. I was exhausted and I’m trying not to think about the money I spent on the trip, but I ultimately feel revitalized and renewed. It was a super fun trip, somehow restorative despite how much I crammed into it. When…… Continue reading Vacations

My semester ended this past Monday night at about 9:45. The other TA and I were at our professor’s house calibrating final grades for our 70 students over pizza, salad, and cookies, and that’s when we finished. I returned home in a jubilant state. The concentrated and intense grading marathon we endured from about last…… Continue reading Lessons for the middle

Time to be open and vulnerable. I’m four months into my nine-month payment plan for my coaching program (which basically means I’m living a no-spend life because the majority of my income goes to payments for the program). We’re also about to move into summer vacation from school, which means I don’t get paid. We…… Continue reading Stewing in circumstances