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A Grain of Salt Posts

What do you want?

I am one of 12 children. I remember when I was in high school my mom just got plain fed up with all that we were demanding of her so she made a sign. She attached her hand-made sign to a dowel and whenever we approached she raised the sign.  The sign had three lines written on it: I want I need Buy me All 3 lines were crossed out. This was Mom’s declaration that…

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Time for a refresher

Here in the United States, there is much excitement for “returning to normal” from the months of the pandemic. In New York City, Broadway Shows open in September. Across the country most schools are returning to in-person classes. Before your calendar gets refilled, I invite you to a refresh. Join me for a pause to establish and renew daily practices of life-giving rhythms. This course is a small cohort that will seek to provide clarity…

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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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