I Wanted to be Pretty
I was a little girl who wanted nothing more than to have long, bouncing hair like Jan Brady. But my mom told me, “Your hair is thin. You can’t have long hair.” So, every six weeks, I was summoned to the kitchen stool. With a Merit 100 dangling from her lips, my mom...
This is Your Brain on Laughter
I was ambling through downtown Chattanooga, enjoying the warm spring evening. With a full belly, nowhere to be, and Mike’s hand in mine, a sense of gratitude swept through me. I noticed a couple, about our age, strolling near us. The woman walked with a carefree...
A Full Bladder and Wet Nail Polish
It’s Tuesday morning, so I’m buzzing around, preparing for The Daily Huddle. I’m a bit of a time tactician and so at 8:30, I realize I have about 20 minutes to spare – just enough time to paint my nails and host the show as they dry. As I apply the final coat of...
Twisted and Warped
My client is getting untwisted and unwarped. He manages several teams and was struggling to keep them motivated. He was in a perpetual mode of holding feet to the fire, keeping the pressure on, and threatening consequences when performance was low. Why did he do this?...
When did we lower the bar?
My daughter dreams of having a job. Caroline is 31-years-old but due to over 19 years of epileptic seizures, she has neurocognitive disorder. That makes her marketability kind of slim. Fortunately, there are options. I took her to an intake meeting where she learned...
Fear has evolved.
A crusty old caveman awakes to his usual hunger pangs. With age, his legs are slower, his eyes less keen and he can't remember the last time he heard a bird sing. So at the first sighting of a predator, he flees back to his cave and considers his fear of being without...
How to Own your Wisdom
"Shut up." It’s so harsh. In elementary school, we were told that "shut up" was as unacceptable as the F word. And then we grow up, and some of the words we dared not utter have surfaced. Although it's losing its flair for irreverence, I’m an F-word fan. Sometimes, it...
A Piece on Peace
As I sit in my cozy home with the fireplace whirring I feel privilege, tangled with shame. I think about the video I saw this morning of men stripped nearly naked, curled over in frightened-child’s pose, awaiting instructions for how to remain alive. The next news...
The Energy of Friendship
Do you have a Thelma to your Louise? I do. Sometimes I even call her Lou. She is definitely the Louise. But usually, I just call her Kathleen. I was chatting with her early this morning. She shared something that flooded me with gratitude for her presence in my life....
Stop Smiling at Babies
Seriously, I dare you. I did it for an afternoon while running around buying things like groceries, hand soap, and plant dirt. I was in a crap mood. It was because I just lost my vacation to illness. OK, that’s not true, it just sounded like a good reason to be...