As I write this, I am sitting in a cool hotel in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan waiting for my friend, Ramerous, to finish coffee with a colleague. Ramerous and I flew to NYC together; a big leap from the middle of Iowa to the heart of Manhattan. Ramerous starts a coveted summer internship […]

I have been AWOL from Alice at Dawn, my fav little community, for too many days. After I got home from Costa Rica, I found myself navigating so many responsibilities that I couldn't manage it all and so, as one does, I dropped things that felt less urgent. Specifically, writing and getting regular exercise. Also, […]

The best reason to take your time is that this time is the only time you'll ever have. You must take it, or it will be taken from you. It is telling that the phrase 'taking your time' is synonymous with slowing down. It we want to live fully, we do best to slow down. […]

I start most days sitting in silence. Often, because of the drive-drive-drive culture we live in, this feels like wasted time. Sometimes it is, mostly because I fail to put my phone down and I end up frittering the time away. Distracted, never settled, jumping at every noise my phone makes. Those times make my […]

My oldest daughter was studying overseas in Rabat, Morocco. We flew over to visit. I had never been to a primarily Muslim country. It felt strange and beautiful. One afternoon we walked through the city to meet our daughter for lunch. For the second time that day, the call to prayer rose up from the […]

A test: try living the life of a good person and see how it suits you. Be the one happy with her fate, rejoicing in his acts of justice, and bent on deeds of kindness. (Marcus Aurelius, 121-180)