India | 2023

Unlike many people I know, I really enjoyed my travel experiences in India on my first trip. Granted, I was traveling in a large group and food, lodging, transportation and excursions were all pre-arranged for us. I also happened to LOVE the food (the spicier the better!). So, as I told my Indian-American doctor when…

Natural Makeup

I have some thoughts on natural makeup that I’d like to share. No—this is not an influencer post nor an MLM opportunity for you to consider. I am not selling anything. All I want you to do is buy in to the notion that you (just you, not you with styled hair care or perfect…

Lofty Mid-year Bonus-goals

Have you revisited your New Year’s Resolutions lately (or ever)?? In case you somehow missed it, we have arrived in the second trimester of 2024. Mid-May is running our schedules into manic chaos, and the weather (at least in the Midwest) is propelling us outside every moment of the day, tempting us to shirk responsibilities….

Dubai | 2023

We entered Dubai somewhat unconventionally by driving across the Al Hajar mountain range that separates Oman from the United Arab Emirates. The drive was long—16 of us in a 17-passenger van plus some of our luggage that didn’t fit in the trailer that we were pulling for six hours—and included an inconveniently-long delay in passport…

A Year in Review

There’s nothing quite so humbling as revisiting the goals/resolutions/lists set for oneself 360-odd days ago. This year, I fairly often referenced the goals I set out to do back in January. I actually did a decent job at producing what I set out to accomplish regarding writing, giving generously, making new recipes (72 to date…

A deluge of consciousness

I “wrote” this blog post while taking a shower. Which is to say: creativity struck me at a very inconvenient time. If I’ve learned anything in my past few years working as a “creative” it is to crank content out when inspiration hits. So, instead of reading a book to gain continuing education credits for…

Make a practice to practice.

I started this blog in 2015, hoping to build a digital portfolio of both writing samples and personal reflections on the things that I found to be important and relevant. Also, I had just finished my master’s thesis and was trying to balance the stress and the tedium of searching for a job. Around that…