LizdomWisdom

Date written: July 28, 2016 Kentucky, I've realized I want to dive deeper and become more involved in the activist community of Kentucky. But first, I feel the need to apologize for being so late to the game. I've been critical of you for many years. But you have to understand, I experienced a lot of pain growing up, as you well know. I felt alienated, judged, misunderstood. For believing differently than most other Kentuckians, particularly my rural communities. Being told I needed therapy for questioning the dominant belief system. My parents having the youth minister come to my house to talk with me about why I wasn't baptized. That something must be wrong with me. Always being made to feel like something was wrong with me. Constantly having well-meaning folks say how they're praying for me, pray for my soul. It made me want to escape and left me with resentment. But I'm working through it.  'm beginning to appreciate Kentucky for it's co...

We joke that I found you under a rock in the Sourlands. Our story doesn't exist in a space of certainty. Never of us knew if this would work. You had gotten out of a deep relationship and a low point in your life only a few months prior. I had my walls up and fear about letting a romantic, intimate love in. I stumbled back and forth trying to wrap my head around your past. I never knew; I was never certain. And neither were you. Those in your life warned you not to move too fast. You eventually caught up to what they meant. Now as the newness fades and it becomes real - what are we certain of? We never knew.

It’s December 31st, 2019. Tomorrow marks the New Year. 2020. I haven’t been as reflective this year as I like, so now seems like a great time to put some attention into my intentions. 2019 was a lot. It held challenges, excitement, gratitude, and lots of learning. To recap, I started my Masters in Higher Education degree at Drexel University. It’s online, flexible, and exactly what I needed at this point in my life while I am working full-time and going back for my masters. I traveled to 15 states and countless cities this year (some multiple times). Some for work and some for pleasure. Minnesota, Tennessee, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, California, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Washington, Florida, Rhode Island, North Carolina, and D.C. No overseas travel this year, so we’ll see if that makes the list for next. This summer, I attended two music festivals: Firefly and Made in America. Saw Lizzo perform live and was merely rows away from her. Went t...

December 31st, 2017. 12:54 pm. It's approximately eleven hours until the new year. Although I think time has a lot less to do with change and important moments than intention does. But it is a good marker that allows us to count and categorize our lives. So let me set some intentions around this next category of time: 2018. And before I do that, let me reflect on 2017. Globally and nationally 2017 was full of ugly politics. I finally got up the stamina to listen to my morning NPR news but other than that, I tried not to drain myself with Trump tweets or "fake news." I leaned into family and friends. Colleagues and my students. I focused on making strong graduate school applications. I had lunches with mentors. Visited a potential school. Wrote and rewrote and rewrote and rewrote personal statements. Sent the personal statements to mentors and then rewrote them again. I took the GRE and didn't let a number on a test consume my life. I talked on the phone with cur...

These journals are of my time traveling Borneo for 3 weeks. Sometimes they do not consist of fully formed thoughts. Sometimes they are simply words. But I hope you'll take away something from my journey. Thursday May 25th 2017 First day waking up in Borneo. We've been traveling for about three days. Four flights to get here. Today I woke up to what I thought was a monkey howling but I think it was a cat. I sat and laid in bed listening. Then, I heard singing. Chanting maybe. Light, almost religious. Buddhist maybe. I listened for awhile longer. Then I thought it was time to join the world. Still early about 5:30 am. Still dark. I thought the sun would be up already but it wasn't. I did some light yoga stretching and began to journal. I think about how amazing it is to be here. I'm grateful to Matt. Immensely. I think about how I can better support him on this trip. Perhaps I should ask or tell him of my gratitude. I'm thankful for a great group. For a friend in ...

Please know that while I criticize our President and his administration, I do not want failure. Because his failure only comes at the cost of hurting millions of people. I reach out to you, my conservative friends, as a human being.  No judgements, no name-calling.  Though that’s never really been my style anyway.  Please know that while I fundamentally disagree with you, I don’t judge you.  In fact, your beliefs resonate with me. Unlike many of my liberal peers, I understand where you’re coming from. I grew up conservative. I was taught by conservative parents, in a small conservative school, in a small conservative town. In 2008, at fifteen years old, when Obama won his first term, I remember my sister coming to my room and we called him a socialist. I thought America was doomed with a ‘socialist’ President. Once in high school, I wore red tape over my mouth to protest against abortion (perhaps my first protest, I guess I’ve truly always been an activist at hear...