While I have plenty to be thankful for this season of gratitude, I am still dealing with the malaise of Hurricane Helene here in WNC and the election results. My prayer for this Thanksgiving: Holy Creator – Thank you for the opportunity to pause and reflect on all we are grateful for. As we gather in this […]
“The American electorate, knowing exactly who Trump is, chose him. This is, it turns out, who we are.” – Michelle Goldberg, author and columnist. There are good, compassionate, kind, and just people in the United States who are being dominated by a “This is who we are” minority who are anti-woke and anti-immigrant. They voted […]
When I became Venture Out Director at Camp Joy in 2000, a challenge was to build our adjunct pool to work with corporate clients such as Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Leadership Cincinnati, and many others. Adjuncts would come to Camp Joy on Saturday mornings to meet and learn how to facilitate and debrief […]
One of the tools I use with clients (and personally) is Joel Barker’s Implication Wheel. While the Implication Wheel does not predict the future, it can come close! We yearn to know the future (its estimated psychic services generated $2.3 billion in revenue in 2023!) In Heather Cox Richardson’s recent Letters From An American, many […]
After my last blog, Four Reasons NOT to Come to Asheville, NC, Right Now, I received a lot of feedback in agreement with me and also feedback disagreeing with me. Whenever I write a blog, I do research. Here are a few resources from my research: From Florida State University – Tropical Storms and Hurricanes: […]
A month after Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina and Asheville, the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority (TDA) started inviting tourists back. As a Buncombe County and City of Asheville resident, I think this is a bad idea. I recognize tourism is an important part of the Asheville and Buncombe County economies, but now is […]
Dear City of Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer – Times of crisis reveal character and leadership. Your resilience and unwavering commitment have been truly inspiring! You have done an outstanding, heroic job of coordinating the efforts of the City of Asheville, NC, with federal, state, county, and faith-based agencies responding to the havoc, chaos, and damage […]
We are coming up on day 14 without power, internet, and water. Someone recently asked, “What is a typical day like without power, internet, or water?” My day begins in the first sunlight. When I get out of bed, I “wash” my hands with hand sanitizer and brush my teeth using water from a bottle. […]
This disaster in Western North Carolina is beyond imagination. No movie director could top the scenes in and around us. The pictures I could share of downed trees, power lines, and water runoff are nothing compared to what you see on the national news. The destruction in Biltmore Village is heartbreaking. The communities of Swannanoa, […]
Tim Walz can call me weird, but I appreciate this serious crisis I am experiencing in Asheville, NC. “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste!” – Rahm Emanuel Reminded: I am a creature of habit. After seven days without power, I still walk into a room and reach for a light switch! […]
