How do you relate to people different than you?

There’s a debate regarding what education is for: is it to prepare students for work or is it to stimulate the soul? But one of the key components I feel is missing is that we go to school to learn to get along with others. We, then, continue to play nice when we enter the workplace. Although, we’re not usually taught how to get along with diverse characters, right? There’s a lot of trial and error. So here are some things I’ve learned along the way. I hope you share your experiences, too.

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What’s your relationship to poetry?

It was my junior or senior year in high school when I fell in love with poetry. I think like a lot of people I had a preconceived idea of what poetry was and I had decided it wasn’t for me. Since English was my first class of the day, I used to put on makeup while sitting at my desk, and my nerdy friend Keitha watched as I lined my eyes or curled my lashes.

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Why I love being a domestic goddess

Why I love being a domestic goddess

Okay, okay, maybe domestic goddess is too strong a term, but I do enjoy cooking, keeping a clean house, and staying at home. When it’s cold out, I’ve been known to pick up my crochet needles. I can build a fire to warm up a winter home. I love to bake. (I miss baking! Thai apts do not have ovens!) I’m not particularly great at sewing, but I can mend simple things. I like gardening and having plants. I also love power tools, and I’m not afraid of a little DIY. I believe because I enjoy simple domestic activities that I’m a happier person for it.

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Let’s go to Khao Yai National Park

Despite my small role as a chaperone, the humidity, heat, and great fear of wild monkeys, I enjoyed our trip to Khao Yai National Park. Khao Yai is a World Heritage Site declared by UNESCO, includes rain and evergreen forests and grassland, and is home to “more than 800 fauna species, including 112 species of mammals, 392 species of birds and 200 reptiles and amphibians.”

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Are you a morning or night person?

Out and about…[Chiang Rai, Thailand, 2014]
I’m definitely a morning person and by that I mean I’m more productive in the daytime. I used to wake up with the Hawaiian sun shining through my bedroom window. (Doesn’t that sound like something out of a Disney cartoon!) I didn’t own an alarm clock until I moved to the Mainland (or Continental U.S.).

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What is home? (a nomad reflects)

Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home. – Matsuo Basho

I’ve done a lot of moving in my life in attempt to discover where I belong. I’ve moved from Portland, Oregon, down to Chico, California, then further still to Oceanside, California. And when we were fed up with the West Coast, we decided to give Alabama, my then-boyfriend’s home state, a try. After that, it was Thailand.

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Awkward weird dates, I’ve had a few…

It’s been years since I wrote a painful-but-true Valentine’s Day post, so I thought I’d dust off the ‘ol corners of the brain, and pull out the EMBARRASSING MOMENTS file for your stupid holiday pleasure. Enjoy.

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