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A Grain of Salt Posts

Together Apart

I was running down the middle of my campus dormitory hallway. The naval term is chopping. All freshmen were required to chop whenever they were out of their rooms. This behavior and many others marked us as plebes, and there was only one way for our plebe rules to end. Climb Herndon. Herndon is a 21-foot granite obelisk standing on the US Naval Academy grounds. It was dedicated as all monuments at the Naval Academy…

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Challenge and grow

A few years back, I dared my student community in the Institute for Cultural Communicators to a 30 day speaking challenge. This past week, I participated in a 7-day writing challenge. The results then and now have been fun and exciting, especially when the challenge connects to a vital real-world skill and personal growth. Here are my three takeaways from the best of a challenge: Challenges catalyze growth The only way to grow is to…

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My Father’s Eyes

My brother Jim’s mother died when he was a toddler. His life was topsy-turvy. Jim describes his teen years as stealing cigarettes from our parent’s room, sneaking off with his friends to drink alcohol, and getting into trouble with school. Jim joined the Air Force. At the risk that further misconduct involving illegal drugs would result in a bad conduct discharge, my father flew down to Texas, where Jim was stationed, and appealed to Jim’s…

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Moving Past the Pain

I had only been out of the room for a few minutes taking care of something in another part of the house. When I walked back into our wood-paneled family room, there was a track meet going on. The event was hurdling, and the 3-month-old baby on his blanket was the hurdle! I watched dumbstruck as my 5, 4, and 3-year old each took off in a sprint from one corner, leaped over the baby,…

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Anyway

I read constantly. Not everything I read sticks. Decades ago, I read these paradoxical commandments. They resonated so much that I made these designs to anchor them in my memory. As we all seek to recover from this past year, may these paradoxical commandments guide you in making meaning of crazy and confusing times. What’s your favorite commandment? More information about these paradoxical commandments written by Dr. Kent Keith can be found here.

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