Talking to Strangers

June…was a whirlwind. I took two separate weeklong trips, started marathon training, ran my first obstacle race, and weathered a scary medical emergency with one of my best friends. This past Thursday I returned home from Orlando, Florida where the Dennehy dancers had another successful North American Championships – and now I’m teaching myself to slow down. I’m rediscovering that blissful feeling of sinking into my couch while digging my bare feet into the downy softness of my favorite rug,…

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One week ago, I started writing this blog post as I waited out an unexpected layover at LAX. At the moment I began writing, I should have been somewhere over Mid-America approaching Chicago on a United flight which was to have taken off from San Diego at 8:15 am and was scheduled to land at O’Hare at 2:22 pm on Wednesday, June 20th. Instead, that fight was canceled, and I found myself sitting in the Los Angeles airport, jiggling my…

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Happy Anniversary, Talking to Strangers. You and I have been in quite the relationship for the past year, and I want to thank you for everything you were, are, and will be for me. When we first began, I was burned out, hesitant, unsure, wary of sustained commitment, but hopeful and determined. Over the past year, you’ve taught me so much about myself, pushed me beyond my perceived limits, made me think about myself and the world around me, and…

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Two weeks from today will mark the one-year anniversary of this blog. In the past 351 days, I’ve written more than 50,000 words and published forty-six blog entries. I’ve chronicled rooftop views, European adventures, teachable moments, and moments when I was utterly unmoored. I’ve narrated doldrums and delights, butterflies and heartache. I’ve written in, around, and through the challenges, failures, and triumphs of this past year – and it has been transformative. Elizabeth Gilbert, of Eat, Pray, Love fame, has…

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Last week, I sat down with my senior students and asked them to circle up. I have small classes, so it’s easy to rearrange the furniture to suit my lesson plan. They dragged metal across tile, forming an oblong circle of desks, put their technology away, and took out Mrs. Dalloway – a difficult text I love teaching and many of them struggle with. This year my teaching of the novel has felt particularly rushed. Thanks to scheduling anomalies and…

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Last Friday, I was bouncing around Las Vegas with my three best friends getting literally showered in champagne in a private cabana pool at Encore Beach Club where an over-served lawyer/amateur golfer picked up our exorbitant bar tab. This Friday, I’m sitting on my couch in my pajamas nursing a lingering sty on my eye and a gnarly breakout on my chin, sipping rosé while eating single-serve chocolate cake out of a holiday mug that boasts “Let It Snow!” #stayhumble….

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Two weeks ago tomorrow, on the 28th of March, I flew from Chicago to Portugal via Madrid for a week-long vacation with my mom. I hauled my MacBook across the Atlantic Ocean, assuming that the five plane and enumerable train rides would allow me ample time to write. At the very least I could wake up and write in our picturesque Airbnb in Porto or our boutique hotel in London. I never opened my laptop – not on a plane,…

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This past Tuesday, I spoke to a group of female students at my school.  They were gathered at an event put on by our student organization Girls’ Night Out – a group run by girls, for girls, focused on empowering young women to find their voices and use them.  Over a month ago, the faculty moderator of Girls’ Night Out approached me to ask me to speak at this GNO event.  She had read my Verily articles, and she thought my voice was one our young women need to…

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I should be grading. Our quarter ended on Thursday, my grades are due Tuesday morning at 8 am, and I should be grading. I have a pile of senior portfolios in the trunk of my Civic and three crates of freshman portfolios in my classroom, and I should be grading. But I’m not. I’m sitting on my couch processing. Or at least I’m trying to. More accurately, I’m sitting in the midst of a tidal wave of emotion, nursing a…

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Tomorrow night, I will tell one of my stories in front of a live audience. Many of my friends and family (indeed, many of you) will be in attendance.  I am overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who jumped to support me in this endeavor. While I am only mildly apprehensive at the moment, I know my nerves will proliferate as the hour of my performance approaches. I am excited to have reached the culmination of my storytelling class,…

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