Category Archives: Reflections

I’ve been thinking lately about times when I’ve jumped to an incorrect conclusion. Like everyone, I take information I have about an event and I respond to it. But when my responses are negative or hurtful, this can be bad. This is especially so when my reactions are based on faulty information. So it’s helpfulContinue reading “The Secret to Slowing Down Your Negative Reactions”

A teacher once told me the story of two people walking at dawn one morning, the rising sun at their backs. One paused and turned to look at the beautiful sunrise, awed by its beauty. Wanting to share it, he tapped the shoulder of his friend, who turned to look and was equally awed. StopContinue reading “Focusing Our Attention on the Profound”

I once facilitated a high school literature class that included reading Annie Dillard’s book “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.” Dillard begins chapter two by sharing that when she was a small child she’d sometimes hide a penny in her neighborhood for someone to find. She’d write out directions with chalk that lead to the penny, withContinue reading “Kindness is Out There Just Waiting to be Found”

We all have repetitious tasks that may seem tedious, even boring to do, so much so that we might complete them on auto-pilot. But these are often the tasks that need to get to done to ensure the bigger projects get done. If it helps, think about what happens to your teeth if you don’tContinue reading “How to Appreciate the Mundane Tasks in Our Lives”

Can anything be beautiful without it having a flaw? Put another way, is it the flaws that make something unique, even beautiful? Seen in this light, is there such a thing as a flaw? You may be familiar with the phrase, “a Persian flaw,” the concept of which has to do with purposely adding aContinue reading “Just What is a Flaw, Anyway?”

In 2010, I asked Matt Harding, whose “Where the Hell is Matt” video has been viewed over 50 million times on YouTube, to come meet my students. You’ve probably seen the video: Back in 2010, I know I had seen it, as had pretty much all of my students at Puget Sound Community School inContinue reading “Ask For What You Want”