At a Veterans’ Day event a few years ago, a soldier explained that she was from a military family with three generations of service. She herself joined the army and served as a medic, training as a physician’s assistant. Her two brothers served in the army and marines; she had cousins that served in other …Read More
Blog
You want to live ~ David Whyte
…if you wantedto drown you could,but you don’tbecause finallyafter all this struggleand all these yearsyou simply don’t want toany moreyou’ve simply had enoughof drowningand you want to live and youwant to love and you willwalk across any territoryand any darknesshowever fluid and howeverdangerous… ~ David Whyte, “Truelove” In 2013, I went to Hawaii for vacation …Read More
A Single Candle ~ Buddhist Parable
Today’s inspiration is a parable sent to me by a friend. A parable is short story that illustrates a deeper truth through everyday metaphors. I don’t know the exact origin of the story, but it is adapted from ancient teachings of Buddhist philosophy. The wisdom inspires me today with a reason to embody the words …Read More
The Moth ~ I Got It From My Mama
9.4 … 9.5 … 7.0 I had no expectations of winning. Well, not until the first two scores. 9.5 is a really good score on a 10 point scale. Then, I met the harsh reality of audience. You can’t please all the people all the time, but … I still try. Who is in the …Read More
FGCU Storytelling Conference ~ June 5-7, 2026
I just wasn’t curious. My dad passed away last year, and I realized the many things that I just never thought to ask. How do you make that special seasoning that you put on everything? What did you want to be when you were growing up? What were your school days like? What was it …Read More
Storytelling Medicine: a new podcast
Every semester, I have the pleasure of teaching an undergraduate course called “Storytelling as Healing.” Twenty students enter the classroom as apprehensive strangers. They leave as a community. “I feel as if I am taking a piece of each of you with me from your stories,” said one of the students this semester. This is …Read More
New Technology, Simply Complicated
New technology? There was a time when I loved complicated machines and computer programs; learning to master them gave my pre-teen brain a hit of dopamine. Look what I can do! But then something switched; I’m trying to put my finger on the moment that it happened. Analog dials suddenly became so much more attractive …Read More
You know you’re my friend
“You know you’re my friend!” I first met Mr. Green in the Fall of 2018 at the information booth entering Florida Gulf Coast University. As you enter the main road to campus, you pull off to a building just big enough for one person. The miniature dark green metal roof and white walls match the …Read More
Hold fast to dreams ~ Langston Hughes
“Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly.” ~ excerpt from the poem “Dreams” by Langston Hughes On December 25, 1925, a century ago, Langston Hughes was working as a busboy at the Wardman Park Hotel dining room in Washington D.C. At twenty-three years old, the young …Read More
The Place I Want to Get Back To ~ Mary Oliver
The Place I Want to Get Back To~ by Mary Oliver The place I want to get back to is where in the pinewoods in the moments between the darkness and first light two deer came walking down the hill and when they saw me they said to each other, okay, this one is okay, …Read More