Tag: human
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The Courage to Trust the Conversation
There are moments in teaching that never show up on a lesson plan. A student’s hand goes up—not to answer your question, but to ask one you hadn’t considered. Suddenly, thirty adolescents stop thinking about the quiz next Friday and start arguing about justice, friendship, race, grief, or why people make the choices they do.…
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Not the Same River, Not the Same Me
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”— Heraclitus I heard this today, and it stayed with me. At first, it sounds like a simple observation about a river. But it’s really about life. Heraclitus reminds us that two things are always…
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How Curiosity and Creativity Became the Story of My Life
I don’t remember deciding to become a creative person. I think I just never stopped being a curious kid. Like every toddler, I was convinced the world existed solely for my investigation. Everything deserved to be touched, tasted, shaken, stacked, thrown, or, if possible, taken apart. My parents probably called it “getting into things.” I…
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Yes… We Know It’s Hot.
People always ask, “How do you live out there?” Well… We complain about the heat for four months. We brag about the weather for the other eight. We have sunshine almost every day of the year. Palm trees. Winters that people everywhere else dream about. Some of the most incredible sunsets you’ll ever see. And…
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I’m Not Superstitious, I Just Have… Procedures
People throw around the word superstitious way too casually. I’m not superstitious. I just happen to know that if I leave the house, realize I forgot my wallet, and have to go back inside, the entire day is now operating under a cloud of administrative inconvenience. Coincidence? Maybe. But why risk it? And no, I…
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More Than Just a Writing Lesson (Reposted)
Giving this another lap around the internet. Good stories deserve a second chance… and algorithms have the attention span of a goldfish. My teacher pals, this may be of interest to you (or not… your call – I won’t take it personally). As a teacher, I made sure my students wrote every single day. It…
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The Art of La Chicanada
When people jokingly talk about la chicanada, they’re referring to that uniquely Mexican ability to solve a problem with whatever happens to be within arm’s reach. Wire. Zip ties. Duct tape. Fishing line.. An old hose clamp. A soda bottle. A rusty bolt that somehow “looks about right.” It’s resourcefulness born out of necessity…and occasionally…
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The Things We Believed (Before Coffee)
As I sit here drinking my coffee, convinced that caffeine is somehow going to help me defeat my lifelong nemesis—Sleep—and maybe keep up with whatever my ADHD has planned for today, I can’t help but think about all the things I believed as a kid. Back then, life ran on confidence… not facts. The right…
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What’s Missing?
I’ve never considered myself much of a chef. I don’t julienne. I don’t chiffonade. I don’t make foams, reductions, or anything that requires tweezers. But a cook? Now that’s a title I’d proudly wear. When I’m cooking, I really only have one goal; Make enough food that everyone leaves the table full, preferably smiling, and…
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My Knees Have Opinions
I have reached the age where I’ve discovered something I never knew in my younger years. Apparently, my knees have opinions. The problem is, they’ve become a lot more vocal with age, and they don’t often agree with my heart. Getting injured no longer requires doing something stupid. There was a time when I could…
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The Things We Never Meant to Remember
It’s funny, the things we remember. Not the moments everyone tells us will matter. Not always birthdays, graduations, or the day we got the keys to our first house. Those memories are there somewhere, but they often sit quietly in the background. Instead, it’s the little things that wait patiently for us. The smell of…
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The Magic in the Stands
Every sport has something special to offer in person. If you’ve ever stood inside a packed soccer stadium, you’ve felt the thunder. Ninety minutes of chants, songs, flags, and enough energy to shake concrete. There may be no greater sporting spectacle on Earth than the World Cup. Football is organized chaos. Hockey is astonishingly fast.…
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On the Honor System: How Are We All Still Alive?
Civilization has a dirty little secret. It only works because, for the most part, we trust each other. Have you ever stopped and realized just how much of everyday life runs on the assumption that complete strangers are going to behave themselves? Not because they have to. Because they’re supposed to. That’s an important distinction.…
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A Merely Audible Contemplation
Lately, I’ve spent enough time alone to hear the refrigerator thinking. It’s a low hum at first, but if you sit quietly long enough, you start wondering if it’s judging your life choices. The funny thing is, I don’t remember solitude being part of the plan. Growing up in a small town, there was always…