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OWLcourage
a blog invested in hope and creative possibility



Adaptation 2.0 (revisiting a concept)
To my dismay, I grew tall young, reaching 5 feet, 11 inches while still in grade school. It was hellacious at the time; there were no...
Apr 297 min read


Homecoming
This is not the blog posting I was going to write, the one chasing me through restless nights and ambushing me when I least expect it. ...
Mar 117 min read


Anniversary
I posted my first OWLcourage blog contribution on January 3, 2022. This fact shines a light on progress made and changes that have...
Feb 67 min read


Small Gratitudes
Like many of my fellow citizens, I have been searching about to find purchase as I study my responses to the outcomes of the national...
Nov 26, 20245 min read


"Not Yet!" (November 5,2024: The Parade)
May Sarton once explained that when she wanted to know what she thought she wrote prose and when she wanted to know what she felt, she...
Nov 12, 20245 min read


Flow
I am a participant in a global enterprise embraced by an array of humans who believe that the exploration of human consciousness is the...
Oct 5, 20245 min read


"Do Something!"
Like many in the US, I am invested in, focused on, and sometimes fretful about the imminent presidential election. This blog, focused on...
Sep 21, 20248 min read


uncertainty
Time for another poem.... uncertainty hanging in the hall corner on a spider web… knowing i now know uncertainty with quiet...
Aug 27, 20241 min read


White Women
At its inception, the OWL in the name of this blog, OWLcourage referred not only to “owls”, the iconic image of wisdom which presented my...
Aug 1, 20247 min read


$1,651.99
At 6:30 AM on June 17, 2024, I tested positive for Covid 19 for the fourth time. Eight hours later, I went to my CVS and paid $1,651.99...
Jul 19, 20249 min read


Johnny Appleseed
The year my oldest daughter was ready to start kindergarten, we moved to a new city and rented an apartment while searching for a home to...
May 30, 20246 min read


Integrity
The word “integrity” has two somewhat complementary but distinct meanings. One focuses on “the quality of being honest and having strong...
May 14, 20248 min read


Productivity
Productivity is defined as the state or quality of producing something. This simple, seemingly harmless definition is amplified with...
May 4, 20246 min read


Competencies
My educational preparation as a professional registered nurse was in a collegiate baccalaureate program, an emergent leap forward in the...
Apr 24, 20247 min read


Flowers
Spring comes early in Goleta, with harbingers announced in February, a shock to my midwestern system of weather management. Suddenly I...
Apr 15, 20244 min read


Corridors
(This poem showed up early this morning, unexpected and uninvited, and volunteered to be my next blog post. I was startled, skeptical,...
Apr 9, 20241 min read


Belief Systems
The concept of “belief systems” has a wide variety of meanings, so my first intention here is to share what meaning that concept has for...
Mar 4, 20249 min read


Taylor and Caitlin
If you immediately added the last names, you may, like me, have taken note of these two amazing women who have captured the imagination...
Feb 25, 20246 min read


Life Lessons
Like many humans, I have spent a portion of my life grappling with the lurking uncertainty about the meaning of my existence, always...
Feb 21, 20244 min read


Improvement
Few national values are as readily observable as the one that incessantly declares that we Americans seek “Improvement”. Indeed, we...
Feb 7, 20245 min read


Letting Go
Virtually every wisdom system I have studied, and of course my pattern is insistent and persistent, eventually advises me to learn to...
Jan 8, 20246 min read


Expectations
Over time, I have learned to think of this time of the year in the US as the season of “Great Expectations”, explanatory without being...
Dec 19, 20236 min read


Kindness
I have been the recipient of thousands of acts of kindness during my life. I think most people could say the same thing if they reflected...
Dec 10, 20235 min read


Bearing Witness
On January 25, 2024 I will provide a one-day workshop on Creative Conflict Engagement to a group of nurses as part of their fellowship...
Oct 28, 20235 min read


Chumash Intertribal Powwow
Yesterday I attended the Chumash Intertribal Powwow in St. Inez, my first powwow in California. I have attended powwows in Wisconsin,...
Oct 2, 20235 min read


I'm 80
Shortly after my 80th birthday last February, I started “field testing” the statement “I’m 80”. I did so out of a curiosity catalyzed by...
Sep 23, 20235 min read


Gooseberries
A gooseberry is defined as “a round edible yellowish-green or reddish berry with a thin translucent hairy skin.” Just reading this...
Sep 8, 20236 min read


CR Packaging
“Child-resistant packaging or CR packaging is special packaging used to reduce the risk of children ingesting hazardous materials. This...
Aug 28, 20235 min read


Impermanence
The waves were large and loud today as I approached the beach where I walk most mornings. To actually get to the shoreline, I leave a...
Aug 19, 20235 min read


Dust the Pheasant
The indicator of a good family reunion is the satisfaction and positive feelings the participants experience as they head back to their...
Aug 13, 20235 min read
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