Category: reflection

  • Getting Started

    Getting Started

    So many times lately in either a post or a journal entry, I have written about my ever lengthening to do list. Aside from that mention, I want to shift the focus away from the fact of the list and more to the things that haver over my head like a cartoon anvil on a…

  • The Year Ahead

    The Year Ahead

    One of the biggest lessons 2020 taught pretty much everyone is that making year long plans can end in disaster or at the very least, incompletion. For an achiever like myself they often appear the same. So this year I will not make year long plans. I will, however, discuss what may come in the…

  • Dealing with Task Overwhelm

    Dealing with Task Overwhelm

    More than once I have devoted a post to how I spend my time, how I show what I really prioritize. As an Achiever, this makes sense for me. Culture also places a high priority on what has been called the “grind culture.” Although I will not write about that here (perhaps later), I wanted…

  • Single Issue Politics – pro-life > anti-abortion

    Single Issue Politics – pro-life > anti-abortion

    During every election season pollsters seek to discover the issues driving voters’ candidate selection. What issues do people feel most passionate about and base their votes upon. For so many in certain political circles within which I grew up firmly ensconced, the straw to potentially break the camel’s back is abortion. Many choose their candidate…

  • Gone Too Soon

    Gone Too Soon

    Nine years ago I taught what I thought would be my last year, only my second year. I taught some cool kids that I remember but only vaguely. I focused on surviving, not building relationships with the kids. Thus, when two years later a plane crash in Alaska claimed the life of one of my…

  • Mental Organizing

    Mental Organizing

    Over the years I have discovered that I think better when I have a clean, organized space. Even the act of organizing helps relieve mental tension. Yet, many systems in my life still persist that support disorganization and I deal with these systems every time something changes, usually with the start of a new school…

  • Birthday Thoughts – Mine and the Country’s

    Birthday Thoughts – Mine and the Country’s

    On Saturday, I turned 35. My birthday has always been a national holiday full of summer fun, flag waving, and patriotic declarations of freedom. Obviously, this year brought a whole lot more to the table with the global pandemic and growing awareness of continued racial inequity in the United States and across the world. As…

  • Silent Reflection

    Silent Reflection

    Although I have posts already written, this week I am taking a break from new content. These past few days have weighed heavy on my heart, convicting me and motivating me. Over the next week I want to take time to soak in what I have learned, reflect on my own shortcomings and discern where…

  • The Problem with “Fake News”

    The Problem with “Fake News”

    Although the term became common place less than five years ago, it now holds status as a quasi-official term with long lasting, dangerous effects. One man seemed to lead the charge in making the term part of the common lexicon. Obviously, one man alone cannot effect that sort of change. Yet, his place of prominence…

  • Media Paradigms

    Media Paradigms

    Just like I described last week, I grew up fully immersed in the belief that certain news sources exhibited prejudicial, liberal bias. Other sources told the truth and only those beleaguered few told the truth. In high school, I avidly consumed news from two primary sources, World Magazine and Fox news. Upon graduation, my great-uncle…