General

Every morning, between 7:30 and 8 a.m., I sit on the steps that lead into the San Marcos River, put on my fins and goggles, and head upstream. Returning downstream, I’m often asked how far I made it, and my answer is always this: “As far as the river and I could agree on today.”…

“The odd thing about these deep and personal connections of women is that they often ignore barriers of age, economics, worldly experience, race, culture — all the barriers that, in male or mixed society, had seemed so difficult to cross.”  — Gloria Steinem In a recent conversation with my dear friend Christine, I shared a…

“In a forest of a hundred thousand trees, no two leaves are alike. And no two journeys along the same path are alike.” – Paulo Coelho We are all on a journey, and each day presents unique opportunities for growth. Some journeys move you physically to distant lands. Some move you mentally through ideas, thoughts…

“Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” – Mark Twain This has served as my motto for at least the last two decades. It continues to serve me in the face of my own fears, lines from old stories,…

“Destiny’s interventions can sometimes be read as an invitation for us to address and even surmount our biggest fears.” – Elizabeth Gilbert   Sometimes, invitations can challenge our fears. Right now, I have received an invitation that has been developing over nine months in bits and pieces. For some time, I did my best to politely…

She was 97 and still tended her rose garden ⁠— her namesake Hortensia bushes, the berry brambles and fruit trees that filled the steeply terraced lot behind the house. Getting up and down those stone steps certainly took effort these days ⁠— but oh, that view was remarkable. Hortense loved this home as much as…

Let me be honest here. On the bucket list of places I’d like to visit in my lifetime, Ukraine was never near the top. Actually, it wasn’t even in the top 100. Absolutely no offense intended, but there was never a real curiosity, and after the unrest in 2015 any chances it had were pretty…

Whether you admire or skeptically question my wanderlust, let me be honest — I have my own moments of doubt. Like when the fifth plane required to reach Cluj-Napoca, Romania, was delayed. I stood in line beyond the gate, my forehead pressed up against the glass, and watched the sky suddenly turn black. Sheets of…

It’s been an honor for me to teach on Belgian soil, where Gemmotherapy became a standardized therapeutic resource. Add a generous host, engaged students, and a dreamlike rural setting, and the experience rises to a level of its own. Although I traveled to Belgium during my previous life in Europe, it has been seventeen years…