This is the kind of post every blogger hopes she never has to write. It’s the goodbye post., the one that says I’ve loved being here, online, with you, these past three years. But I’m sure you’ve noticed I’ve not been around much lately. And there’s some very good reasons for that. Continue reading “The Goodbye (For Now) Post”
Category: Inspiration
Profiles, essays, and reviews that lead to inviting creativity, passion and adventure into real life.
Should Women Just Be Nice?
My cousin, Kelly Sanders, penned this thought-provoking post about her recent experience as a single woman and the challenge of managing politeness with self-preservation.
July 29, 2019
Many would argue in 2019, especially after the #metoo movement, that women should feel at least a little safer, respected, or just less bothered by unwanted attention. But, recently I was reminded of how far we have to go.
Case in point: I own a house on a remote creek with a gay friend of mine (this is relevant later in the story). We have friends to the house and many days I go on my own to just read, write, swim and relax: self-prescribed, self-care. There’s hardly ever anyone out on the creek. This makes it the perfect spot for meditation and reflection . . . and apparently now waterside-harassment. Continue reading “Should Women Just Be Nice?”
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Daily Scorecard: A Growth Mindset Approach
I’ve been thinking a lot about growth mindset. For myself, I think I need an internal scorecard. Every day, I’ll reflect on these simple things and, regardless of what any one else says or doesn’t say, I’ll call the day a win.
Your turn: What’s your internal scorecard look like?
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The Beauty of Boxed Wine and Other Life Lessons
In the absence of anything else to be snooty about, I picked wine.
After graduating from college in San Diego, I moved north to Berkeley, California. Sure, I wanted a new adventure; but really it was to follow a boy, my first ‘real’ boyfriend. He was both an atheist and a bartender; I thought he was cool. So, I moved to Berkeley, lived with some roommates in a gorgeous old home, and looked for a job. But I didn’t look for a ‘real’ job. I wanted to write my important novel. Money, I figured, was only needed to feed, clothe, and house myself. I had waited tables in college, thus a job in a restaurant seemed the perfect choice. After some false starts, I found a pretty good one at a fancy place on the bay. That was where my snootiness began. Continue reading “The Beauty of Boxed Wine and Other Life Lessons”
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Four Simple Ways to Be Extraordinary
By Angela Noel Lawson
June 3, 2019
Steve Jobs, Bill and Melinda Gates, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou, Amma (the ‘hugging saint’), and Martin Luther King Jr. have impacted millions with their extraordinary-ness in business, social justice, human rights, and the arts. Their efforts are meaningful. Each represents an extension of self to benefit the wider world. But world-changing actions aren’t the only ones that matter. Continue reading “Four Simple Ways to Be Extraordinary”
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My Prison of the Perfect Size: Culture and Body Image
By Angela Noel Lawson
May 2019
Simone de Beauvoir, French author and philosopher, wrote, “To lose confidence in one’s body is to lose confidence in oneself.” Put another way, to have confidence in one’s body is to have confidence in oneself. Like many women, I have a complicated relationship with my body. For years, I viewed it as a criminal, and sentenced it to a prison-like existence. But then, after almost a 40-year term, I began to set it free. Continue reading “My Prison of the Perfect Size: Culture and Body Image”
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The Choice to Follow: The Achiever’s Dilemma
As part of my Profiles in Leadership Series, I asked several writers, including Jeff Cann, with different points of view on leadership to pen essays. I began reading Jeff’s blog The Other Stuff in 2017 after his post, “Follow,” was featured by the editors of WordPress Discover. His frank and thoughtful assessment of why he follows writers (or doesn’t) hooked me. Here, coincidentally, he writes of following from a different perspective. In this essay, Jeff considers the rarely discussed, but very real, struggle many of us face–allowing ourselves to be led.
May 20, 2019
Email from Angela Lawson:
Hi Jeff,
I’m wondering, given our previous conversations about leadership, if you’d like to share your perspective on the topic in a guest post?
Angela
Angela’s been doing her leadership series for a couple of months now. She’s profiled some impressive people and she’s persuaded some accomplished leaders to pen articles here. With Angela’s request, I’m in great company. Since she’s asking, you’re probably thinking my leadership qualities are top notch. Or possibly I’ve excelled in my career and in life because I’ve followed someone truly inspirational.
No and no. I’m writing today because other than with my high school cross country coach, I’ve never felt led. I’ve never been inspired. I think Angela asked for my perspective because after so many great leadership essays, what she needs now is a bad example. Some instruction on what not to do. Continue reading “The Choice to Follow: The Achiever’s Dilemma”
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Defining the Default Leader: Overcoming Reluctance and Accepting the Call
As part of my new Profiles in Leadership Series, I asked several writers with different points of view on leadership to pen essays. Here is the second of those essays. Shannon Leader considers the weighty impact of finding herself a leader by default and not always by choice. Shannon is an outdoor lifestyle blogger in the Pacific Northwest and writes over at Must Hike Must Eat. Read and follow her many excellent travel and trail posts. I promise you’ll be inspired.
May 13, 2019
If you noticed my name you might have thought to yourself that I must be the perfect person to write about leadership. But the cold hard truth is that it is more like proof that the universe is plotting against me.
I have spent most of my life avoiding anything having to do with being a leader or “in charge”. In fact, the thought of it makes me nauseous. I would love nothing more than to just have the role of a worker bee. But last year, even my last name turned against me when I married my wonderful husband. Continue reading “Defining the Default Leader: Overcoming Reluctance and Accepting the Call”
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Assembling the Pieces of Me: My Grandmother’s Legacy
By Angela Noel Lawson
May 7, 2019
When Jackie Cochran called for female pilots to join the World War II effort, my grandmother, along with 25,000 other women, answered. Twenty-five-year-old Dolores Meurer began her training as a Women’s Air Service Pilot (WASP) on August 9, 1943, at Avenger Field in Sweetwater, Texas. The rigors of training ensured only the best would earn their wings; only 1,074 applicants graduated. Her experiences as a WASP spanned less than two years of her life, yet those heady days populated her thoughts for the almost seven decades to follow.
However, unlike my grandmother at 25, I lacked purpose. I’d quit my job at a startup magazine in San Francisco. The novel I’d planned to write when I graduated college was 75% complete and 90% terrible. And, I’d broken up with my first serious boyfriend. Adult life was just so much harder than I thought it’d be. Continue reading “Assembling the Pieces of Me: My Grandmother’s Legacy”
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Read This! Or Don’t. Either Way, I Still Love You
By Angela Noel Lawson
April 29, 2019
Something’s been on my mind and I think it’s about time I share it with you. Being a friend or family member of a writer can be tough. We writers are always publishing, posting, promoting . . . And though we try not to overwhelm you, I don’t think we always succeed. So, I’m here to tell my people: It’s okay if you don’t read my writing. Really, it is.
If I ask you if you’ve read my latest essay, it doesn’t hurt my feelings if you say no. I’m only asking because I don’t want to tell you the same story you might have already read. Believe it or not, I’m trying NOT to be annoying. Inevitably, though, I worry. I worry you’ll think I’m expecting you to read everything or anything. Truthfully, I’m not. Continue reading “Read This! Or Don’t. Either Way, I Still Love You”