The old man has always been there. There was never a time in my life when he didn’t show up. True, it was always according to his schedule. Time meant nothing to him. He would show up when he wanted to and leave when he jolly well pleased. No glances at the wall to check ...

There once was a free bird,Who loved to sing. There once was a happy bird,That loved to fly. There once was a content bird,Who loved to eat and drink of life. But a hunter came by,Who loved the bird’s beauty. He thought to himself,“I could only be happy with a bird like that”. So he ...

November, for me, usually involves the intense drive to finish a novel. This year I have no motivation even to open a word document. I tend to go through periods where I believe I can’t write and hate all of my characters. One solution I have is to completely start from scratch. I can start ...

It’s been a long year and a half since the pandemic hit our shores. There has been a lot of hand sanitizer under the bridge, making the time seem both elongated and truncated. Working from home turned into the new norm. Except, of course, for our front-line workers. Slowly, the rest of the workforce has ...

What do you do when you have nothing to say? The simple answer is, of course, don’t say anything. I have this issue where I want to cause the least amount of stress for everyone around me. The problem is I can’t do a lot of physical things, so I try to help out wherever ...

There is no getting around it: teaching takes energy.  Lots of it.  It takes mental, physical, and emotional grit.  It takes organization, determination, and endless exertion.  It takes wisdom, compassion, and discipline. And that is just to get through the first 10 minutes of the day. Teachers have to wear many hats: teacher, philosopher, advisor, ...

During this time of uncertainty, my life (and everyone’s life) has changed significantly. Not only have I been staying home for the past week, but I don’t have much of a job. I am a representative of a small wine distributor. When the restaurants in my state had to close, my job basically ended. The ...

We can’t control how COVID-19 will act, but we can control how we react.  Our behavior during the coronavirus crisis matters.  How we deal with each other and our social circles is just as important as how we deal with the virus. Behavior matters. There is a story out there in cyberland about how one ...

I was like every other creative kid growing up. I had imaginary worlds that I created to help me deal with problems in my everyday life. I created a planet called Planet S. Please forgive me for being unoriginal, but the S is for Stephanie. I was six. I can’t even lie, and say I ...