Rudolph the Red-Nosed Changemaker
You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen. Comet and Cupid and Donner and Bitzen. But do you recall that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was a changemaker after all? To get in the holiday spirit and spend time with my niece who pretty soon may not want to hangout with us at children’s musicals anymore, we went to the Stages production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical. Watching Rudolph with my niece and partner Michael brought tears of joy, nostalgia, and frustration. My MOXIEmoment is realizing that like me, Rudolph is a changemaker. He stands up for himself [...]
Hope Is A Form Of Planning
In the past, I was a Presidential voter. I made sure I voted for President no matter where I was in the world-including Tokyo and while living out of a backpack. I was proud of myself for doing my civic American duty. Now, I have a deeper appreciation of the value of my vote, and I vote during Midterms too-especially during Midterms. This year, I blocked two hours in my calendar, put the address of my voting center into my phone, and put my voting card in my wallet to make sure I was ready to vote on November 8th. [...]
Tornadoes, Sharks, and Bears. Oh my!
It’s 3am. Do I get up or try to fall back to sleep. I’m unsettled-this feeling is not going anywhere. I turn the bedside lamp on at my Airbnb in Townsend, TN. What’s bothering me? The 800 plus emails in my inbox? Nope. The session I’m leading in three days about the intersection of race and gender? Nope. Hiking the bear infested Smokies? Yep! Three of my biggest fears in life are tornadoes, sharks, and bears. Fear. Noun : an unpleasant emotion caused by being aware of danger : a feeling of being afraid : a feeling of respect and [...]
Liza’s Light
I tap my FitBit, scroll until I find walk, and hit go. I need a walk. I just drove three hours and had crap sleep again. Maybe tonight I need to take two melatonin gummies? I need the sun, the walking meditation, and to figure out how to instill hope to female faculty/staff in a country that is attacking women daily: Roe v Wade, maternal deaths, suppressed voting rights, and murdering women for being female. As I take my first steps onto the trail, I walk by a group of young men gathered in a circle. I think, “If they [...]
Center Yourself.
White caps are spilling over the bow of our aluminum canoe onto my hot pink waterproof sandals. Fear rises like the water in our boat; we are novices navigating the Boundary Waters in its fury. TT at the stern yells, “Center yourself!” She’s twenty-one, and her wisdom rips through the gust. I take a deep breath, squint into the wind, and dig into the wave. This is my MOXIEmoment. Paddling the Boundary Waters with five Gen Z women for a week of Super-Moons, loon spottings, fresh blueberries, YWCA yoga, and watching for bears as you pee. It’s a week of [...]
Remember Your Roots.
When I was eight (before confidence peaks for girls in America), I declared I was going to be President, own a school, publish a book like Judy Blume, and circumnavigate the world like Magellan. Ok, I probably didn’t say circumnavigate-but I knew I wanted to see King Tut, the Panama Canal, and travel like Magellan. Next week, I go back to “my roots” where Little Kristi made this declaration-Dubuque, Iowa. “Remembering my roots” is this week’s MOXIEmoment. I’ll be on the main stage at the Dubuque Women’s Leadership Network’s conference wearing my “Remember your roots” tshirt-made by a Dubuque and [...]
