OWLcourage
a blog invested in hope and creative possibility

Early in my training to work in conflict resolution, I realized that most conflicts I encountered in my work were not about beliefs, emotions or personalities, but about power. That alone was a significant realization, however in writing my first book about negotiating at an uneven table, the insight blossomed further. Definitions of power were the catalyst. The first noteworthy aspect of this is that the word power is used in a variety of disciplines generating a variety of

I am a Golden States Warriors fan, largely a function of fascination with their culture shaped by their most recent NBA championship runs while I was living in the San Francisco Bay area (that picture is the flag from those glory days). And the Warriors are attempting another run at this championship. This means that my TV time has abruptly expanded, and I find myself watching ESPN. Over the years, when I find myself immersed in an experience awash with unconscious sexism,

The word easement has two distinctly different meanings. This is a story about the convergence of the two meanings: First Meaning – a right to cross or otherwise use someone’s land for a specified purpose; Second Meaning – the state or feeling of comfort or peace. I live in a rural community on the edge of the rapidly expanding urban/suburban territory of Columbus, Ohio. My county, Delaware County, is north of Franklin County, the Columbus metropolitan terrain. Delaware C

My first direct experience with abortion happened in 1966, eight years before the 1973 passage of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling that protects a pregnant women’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction. This is the story of that experience as I remember it. I was a 23 years old nun, working as a surgical nurse at a mid-size midwestern Catholic hospital. Weekends were always staffed with a skeletal crew, and so one Saturday when I