Jun 11, 2019Passengers Are PeopleHow one pilot inspired a planeful of people leaving O'Hare — Kindness3 min readKindness3 min read
Dec 20, 2018The Importance of Being Beginners as AdultsOver a year ago I began a project to paint 100 portraits. The reason? At the time I had only been painting landscapes as part of my new watercolor hobby, and thus faces felt really difficult. I figured that if I painted a hundred of them, I was bound to…Creativity5 min readCreativity5 min read
Dec 18, 2018Who Am I Without These Ties to the Past?And other questions that arose while deep cleaning my childhood bedroom at age 30 — While in Texas at the end of November I noticed my Google Drive was above 85% full, so I began a digital spring winter cleaning. I organized documents and files in My Drive, deleted all my old work emails from university, and whittled my 100+ Feedly subscriptions down to just…Short Story12 min readShort Story12 min read
Apr 17, 2018Meeting the Three Letters That Would Dominate My 20s: IBSIt all began in high school. A bagel and cream cheese had been my Saturday breakfast routine for years, until one day freshman year when it really upset my stomach. This happened repeatedly, so my mom suggested I might be becoming lactose intolerant. I did some Googling, learned that it's…Health7 min readHealth7 min read
Jun 25, 2017A Curve Too SevereReflections on 12 years post-spinal fusion — “Smile on three: One, two— stop leaning Rebecca,” said my cousin. It was Homecoming of my freshman year in high school, and I was having my first of many pictures taken in my black dress. “I’m not leaning,” I replied. “Then why is your hip sticking out?” she asked. What…Health15 min readHealth15 min read
Jun 12, 2017A Reflection on 100 Days of Mind MappingFrom September 15, 2016 to January 9, 2017 I made one hundred mind maps, as a #The100DayProject project. All mind maps can be viewed here. How the Project Began On August 15, 2016 I wrote on my blog “I’m pretty convinced that it would be really good for me to do a 100-day project…The100DayProject15 min readThe100DayProject15 min read
Apr 19, 2017[Poem] Your Words MatterThis was written for the following True Life Poetry prompt (#TLPoetry):Poetry1 min readPoetry1 min read
Apr 16, 2017The Unexpected Email from My Spanish TA on EasterYour words matter, and you can use them today. — I never would have thought an email from a college Teaching Assistant (TA) would stick with me for nearly a decade. But one has, and remains memorable to this day. Nine Easters ago, in 2008, I was in the second semester of my freshman year at UW-Madison. College was a…Kindness3 min readKindness3 min read
Apr 14, 2017How One Notebook and 44 Pilgrims Inspired Me to Approach Strangers for a Connection ChallengeBehind the scenes: How tapping into courage brought not one, but two projects to life — In the fall of 2014, I spent about a month walking the Camino de Santiago 500 miles across Spain. To set the scene a bit, I had two outfits: one inside my backpack and the other on my body. After each day's 6–8 hours of walking, I'd shower and hand…Camino De Santiago12 min readCamino De Santiago12 min read
Mar 28, 2017Personal Projects: Ideas to Kickstart Your Next CreationYour future self will be so grateful you started one — It can be surprising what you can do when you're expected to meet a challenge or are assigned a project with a due date. So what if there were an assignment that would give you a result you're proud of, teach you new skills, gift you with more pleasure in…The100DayProject8 min readThe100DayProject8 min read
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