My godchild Elizabeth Bellamy Brown — Ellie — graduates this year. There are all sorts of reasons why I love Ellie and not just because she’s my godchild. Mostly, she’s generous, funny, and has no filter. She says exactly what she means, which is what most of us long to do. She also has Asperger’s Syndrome and OCD, which, if you read my recent blog “Our Battle With OCD,” makes me love her that much more. [Read more…] about Celebrating Ellie
General Thoughts
Life is Too Short
You all know I’m a big fan of stepping into our differences and out of our comfort zones. But we also have to be realistic about our creative strengths and weaknesses. This hilarious clip from the BBC show “Life is Too Short” makes the point when Liam Neeson wants to break into comedy. Since I’m also a fan of the creative process, I’ve included the clip that features bloopers from the actors as they try to pull off the scene. Enjoy!
Our Battle with OCD
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle.” This quote from Philo of Alexandria (not a household name, but apparently a smart guy) landed in my email inbox two days ago while I was in Minneapolis telling a story with The Moth. I thought of the quote when I was in the airport and the distracted Delta ticket agent was rude to me. Instead of barking back, I tried my best to smile. Who knows what was going on in her world? I thought of it again on my flight home when the lovely woman seated next to me revealed she had just placed her 48-year-old brother in a nursing home after his third debilitating stroke; she was desperate to bring him home to New Hampshire. And I thought of it Tuesday morning when I found my husband, once again, battling his OCD. [Read more…] about Our Battle with OCD
Remembering Who We Are
Several years ago, a dear friend of mine held an intimate dinner for her 50th birthday party. She didn’t invite me. The exclusion hurt a great deal. We’d spoken daily for the past two if not three years, we’d guided each other through major personal crises, and enjoyed a cup of tea or a meal together at least once a week. We were close friends, I thought; it never occurred to me I wouldn’t be included. When I asked her why, she bumbled through several excuses and then finally said, “Well, you know. You have that big personality.”
The Importance of Being Vulnerable
In a recent video on storytelling seen on Carson Daly’s Last Call, The Moth founder George Dawes Green states great storytelling depends on vulnerability. I wanted to really understand that word, so I revisited several definitions including this one from The Oxford Dictionary: susceptible to physical or emotional attack or harm. Sounds like a pretty scary place to be. [Read more…] about The Importance of Being Vulnerable