Yesterday, I started on a blog post, which I am continuing today, in a similar but different space. Here were my thoughts yesterday: It is hard, in these days, not to bear witness to harm and human suffering. It seems that it is everywhere around me, even as I try to minimize my contact with […]
Grieving Social Media
It is a beautiful day here. The cherry blossoms on the quad outside of the building where my office is are not quite at peak bloom, but almost there. People are taking photos under partly cloudy skies while they can, before a potential thunderstorm threatens the delicate blossoms. I took the picture above from a […]
What are you working on?
I am in Charlotte, North Carolina, as part of the Cultivating New Voices Among Scholars of Color Spring 2025 Institute, serving as a mentor for a dear friend and junior scholar. In reviewing the agenda, my eyes settled upon the question: What are you working on? Hmmm, what am I working on? This morning, on a walk […]
Pacing Myself
For roughly 5 years between 2015-2020, I ran half marathons. Prior to that, I had run cross-country and track in high school but subsequently took a twenty-year running hiatus. When I took running back up, I remember realizing two important things: 1) I was not my younger self in many ways, and I personally would […]
Spring Thoughts
Today, on my walk to my daughter’s school and subsequent bus ride into campus, I was reminded how suddenly spring can appear. We noted the budding blossoms and daffodils on our way. The sky is blue. The sun is out. The mountain is out. Birds are chirping outside my open window as I write this […]
Precious
Time is so precious, my friends. Time with those we care deeply about, time taken grounded in our bodies and in the space we occupy, time in contribution. We only get one life and we really have no assurances about our tomorrows or those of the people around us. It is a particularly contentious time. […]
Be Gentle
There is an oft-cited quote about kindness or gentleness that reminds us that everyone is fighting a battle that we may not know anything about. This quote often comes to me on February 3. February 3, 1995, I lost my mother in a car accident. Losing my mother, in more ways that I can say, […]
A Morning Reflection: On Rest, Wisdom, and Courage
When I am burdened by the day’s troubles, my husband often reminds me that “the morning is wiser.” This morning, I am especially present to the wisdom that comes with rest and from reminders that we are in community. This week has reminded me that when our bodies hold trauma, and that trauma is reactivated […]
Holding Still, Holding Space, Holding On
At the end of a long week and a long month, I am returning to my breath. I am returning to the present moment. I am taking a moment of stillness in a world that has felt frenzied and chaotic, particularly in the last few days. I am reminded of the gratitude I feel to […]
Reflecting & Vision Casting: 2024 –> 2025
What a year it has been. I came into 2024, officially starting my position at the University of Washington, while going back and forth between my family in Southern California and my new position in Seattle. The first six months of 2024 was full of back and forth and felt…unmooring. I not only was traveling […]