Transition in my life has me feeling like I’m standing on a page in my book of life … and someone erased all the illustrations.

Lifesaving Lesson #1 for fundraisers this season: you do NOT get to make decisions for your donors.

If “too soft” is silence and “too hard” is mean, then how can we find our “just right” in difficult conversations?

Many of us do a good job showing up for others. But I feel compelled to ask: how well do we show up for ourselves? When you do things that matter in your life, do you activate your own force field?

I usually think about Scarcity Mindset as it relates to money. But recently I started wondering: did the shortage of toilet paper and hugs this spring kick me into full scarcity mindset about my entire Covid life?

When you stand in the Unbearable Lightness of Not Knowing, what do you find?

The fear running around inside many nonprofit offices sounds a lot like: Will we still be standing when this pandemic is in our rear view mirror?

I’m not ready to call this a new normal yet, but I sure am learning a lot.

It’s a week of Zooming, both literally online, and also in my head.

I accidentally bought a journal with no lines. When I realized it, I did what any self-respecting English major would do: I panicked.

But then I wondered, can I roll with this?

When we are making an ask, whether for a nonprofit campaign or a raise, we bring our baggage into the room with us. Trust me on this one: our baggage has real impact.

Is being alone the same as being lonely? I’d like to believe they are different.

This year, I have an urge to keep it simple: 2020 is going to be my Year of The Word.

In this moment, the holiday time of year feels like an assault on me.

I know. I’ve been called a Grinch before.

The bullies in middle school were, as it turns out, nothing compared to the one in my brain. It’s the voice of laceration and flagellation that gave me no credit for trying my best.

I believe that the things we can’t tolerate take on power in our lives. When I decided that my fear of making a mess might be running my life, someone suggested that I add Oscar the Grouch to my “Wall of Heroes.”

Why is it that we would rather be liked for who we’re not than risk either not being not liked OR actually loved for who we are?

It’s so tempting to believe that someone else will solve our problems for us.  Send in the white stallion with the answer!  Write Ask Amy … She’ll tell me what to do!

Here’s what I think I know: all of us sometimes wish that someone else had your answer, your decision, your solution.

Here’s what else I know: they don’t.

What’s your staying power? In a challenging conversation, my “stay” might be not unlike 4-month-old Tibby the puppy’s.  I might have made the excellent choice not to leave the room or bolt.  I might even resist glancing at my phone. Nonetheless, my physical presence is all that’s still in the conversation.

Getting clean can mean around substances, messy drawers or food. While those are all topics that are reasonably on people’s minds as a new year dawns, I’m thinking about cleaning up in a different way.