LizdomWisdom

December 24th, 2020. Christmas Eve.  As we approach the end of each year, I like to spend some time writing out reflections and setting intentions for the new year. This year I'm lucky to be spending the holidays at home in Kentucky with my mom and stepdad.  As everyone knows, 2020 has been an incredibly challenging year. The world faced the COVID-19 pandemic. Worldwide the virus has taken 1.77 million lives, over 300 hundred thousand in the United States, almost 20,000 in New Jersey, and just shy of 3,000 in Kentucky. Sometimes big numbers can feel too abstract to grasp the gravity. But unfortunately, so many people have been touched by this pandemic that most people know faces and names associated with the numbers. A parent, grandparent, friend, colleague, family member, neighbor. Let us take time to remember and honor these folks.  Then, of course, there's the impact of the virus has on our everyday lives. On scale I've never experienced in my lifetime and hope to neve...

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...