I spent a school year substituting in various special education classrooms in Fort Worth, Texas, before returning to school for teacher certification. I’d already worked with young children with developmental disabilities and loved their (usually) carefree and good-natured dispositions. My first assignment as a substitute teacher at Jo…
Columns
Here in North Carolina, the weather fluctuates between springtime warmth on Christmas Day to freeze-your-butt-off cold a couple days later. We sometimes get all four seasons in the span of a few weeks, but it’s the wintertime that requires the most preparation. It forces people like…
As I write this, my room glows in the midafternoon sun. Sometime last year, I invested in a suncatcher, so there are rainbows everywhere — pastel sunbursts that are there, then gone. It’s unseasonably warm in Minnesota today, so the snow is melting, dripping steadily off the roof. According to…
I like the saying, “It’s always darkest before the dawn,” but I think it’s overused. We should come up with other phrases that mean the same thing so that the idea doesn’t become too cliché. People can pick whatever words they prefer, based on their own situation. All that matters…
The morning of Dec. 4, 2020, my life changed forever. My best friend, fellow columnist, and work wife, Brianna Albers, burst into our private Discord channel. “YOU SHOULD APPLY,” she yelled at me through the messaging platform. Attached was the link to the application form for a columnist position…
“One thing’s for sure,” I tell my dad. “This is going to make a great column.” I’d been dreading this doctor’s appointment for days, and not just because of the hell that is commuting during the winter. The last time I was at this clinic, a neurologist questioned whether I…
Before I dive into this column about how the art of organization keeps my life balanced, I believe a disclaimer is necessary. After all, no matter the number of “Queer Eye” episodes I watch and self-help books I read, or the amount of inspiration I get from…
Goodness, that didn’t take long. We’re already closing in on the middle of the first month of another new year. For most, 2021 felt like a tedious extension of the calamitous year before it. Oh, 2020, I hope never to see a year of your ilk again. As usual, I…
In 2021, I kept a log of every new movie, TV show, book, and comic I watched and read throughout the year, as well as notable music and podcasts I listened to. This media diary allowed me to reflect on the various pieces of art and entertainment I consumed,…
When it comes to rituals, I am religious. Weekly rituals are the shortest, and consist largely of short-term planning. Monthly and quarterly rituals, on the other hand, are more reflective. Instead of updating my calendar and to-do list, I journal about my values. I revisit the goals I set…
