With a Full Heart

We don’t always know what is going to be a trigger for us, do we? It could be something we hear or see or even something unrelated that causes us to react or remember. Sometimes it takes a moment to define that trigger, sometimes it is almost startling its clarity. The trigger for me this…

I described leadership this week to someone as “pushing big boulders up big hills.” I don’t mean that in a negative way, rather I believe that the work of a leader is to see the next pinnacle and help move the organization to reach it. I think of the line by political adviser James Carville…

I came home from Israel just a week before this war began. I am watching, and reading, the news of missile strikes and bombings from the safe shelter of my suburban home. I spent much of today baking cookies and bread with my granddaughter, enjoying her company and letting the process of combining sugar, flour,…

An interesting conversation this week with some friends, talking about connection to religion and upbringing and expectations. We all come at this from such very different viewpoints and experiences. I was raised in a family with strong religious practices and well defined standards. I learned them, I understood them and I chose, beginning as a…

My dad was an affectionate father but not someone I would describe as a loving husband or partner. We knew as children, because of what Dad told us, that he hadn’t wanted to get married, that his mother “forced him” to find a wife and make a life. He was 48 or 49 at the…

There is no question that I was a very naive child. Truth be told, I think I was naive well into my adult life and, in some aspects, maybe I still am. When I was a child, I was certain that the people I loved would be with me forever. And while there was loss…

We are, as we all well know, products of our upbringing, both a reflection of the time in which we were born and the family that we were born into. In my family, there were clear expectations about how to behave and how to express feelings. While I confess that I was very skilled at…

It’s snowing. This is day two of watching big, fat flakes drifting down. The roads are not great and the prediction is for a “dump” of a few more inches before the day is through. And, it’s a day when I don’t have any commitments, a circumstance that is both rare and even a little…

Years ago, when I worked as a director in a hospital, responsible for marketing as well as community outreach, I was invited to join the local Rotary club. Rotary was (and likely still is) a well attended weekly group with a great cross section of community leaders. Rotary members took part in many service projects,…