What Defeat Has Taught Me
6 Ideas I’m Carrying Forward A good friend recently asked me what I learned in 2017 that would be most helpful in the coming year. It got me thinking about …
The Life We See Through This Screen
Do you ever think, “this world was not meant to be viewed through a screen?” I had that thought recently. That thought came when I was looking at the world …
Haste Makes Waste
It was fifth grade and I had the toughest teacher in the school, Miss Tang. She was strict, she was stern. She had a method for everything and you obeyed …
The Most Terrifying Question You Could Ask You
What does it mean to Opt In? (<- This is not the question.) In my work as co-founder of Root + River, my fellow co-founder, Justin Foster, and I talk a lot …
I Was Perfect, And Other Lies My Father Believed
My earliest memory involves my dad. In the memory, I am standing outside of my house in Cleveland, Ohio, on our lawn. I’m hurt and petulant about a dust-up with …
Are You a Not Enough Time Person?
When was the last time you could not wait to leave the presence of another person? Do you remember when? Do you remember who? Do you recall that feeling of, ‘I cannot …
Life & Death in a Movie Theatre: What Beauty & the Beast Shook Loose in Me
In 1991, I turned thirteen. I was well past cartoon years and yet when Beauty & the Beast hit the theaters, I saw it and fell absolutely in love with …
45 Things I’ve Learned on My Way to 40 (That I Wished I Knew Much Younger)
My brain, and heart, and my vanity are a bit bruised with the realization that I’m stepping on 41. (This is how my father used to greet each year we …
Why I Gave Up Coffee: Mind Hacks + Memories
(Editor’s Note: I am very soon turning 40. I have thoughts. I have memories. I have reason to share them. Read on…) I recently gave up something I loved. It …
Why I’ll Die Reading the Obits
One thing I inherited from my parents and grandparents is a love and respect of the newspaper. Like, the actual printed one. (Yes, I still get the local printed paper, …