Jessie's Blog
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DON'T CALL ME AVERAGE!— Accepting Your Best, Unique, and Totally Awesome Average Self in a Culture of Extremes
At the Boston IECA convention, Dr. Ellen Braaten opened her keynote speech, “The Curse of the Average Child,” with this slide. "Walmart or Harvard." All other high schoolers should just go home, settle in with their iPads, hide under the T-shirt quilt Aunt Donna had custom-made, and binge watch Game of Thrones. If these are the only options, then it’s winner take all—because stocking shelves doesn’t play well on Instagram.
My yoga instructor had a similar thought nearly a decade ago. “We are a …
TALKING TO YOURSELF, AGAIN? — Everyone does it, but is what you are telling yourself taking you where you want to go?
What’s that tune you can’t stop singing to yourself? We’ve all got one; in fact, I feel pretty safe in saying we’ve all got more than one. We’ve got a whole chorus of tiny voices demanding our attention, but here’s the thing: Some of our internal voices empower us, reinforce our authentic selves, and feed the greater good. Too often, though, they are the roadblocks that spring from our deepest fears about ourselves. And, they are remarkably good at keeping us stuck, especially when we don’t even…
Sometimes School Sucks, but Thanks Mom & Dad
“Leave your pride, ego, and narcissism somewhere else. Reactions from those parts of you will reinforce your children’s most primitive fears.” —Henry Cloud
Martin Family Vacation, Spring 2009Bryn, our sophomore in college, called in February. “I just don’t get it, Mom.” One of his closest friends had just withdrawn in the second semester of his sophomore year. …
Whatever you do, don't ask about my major.
A few years out of college and newly married, David and I headed back to South Mountain for the annual Lehigh-Lafayette Football Game (in this century this tradition is known as LeLaf). Following the game we went to a cocktail reception at Theta Chi, and the brick exterior, white columns, and pungent odor of beer long-seeped into the parquet floors greeted us — almost as if we had never left. As the crowd gathered and the volume rose a couple of drinks in, I overheard a question posed by one of …
Boredom, Questions & Zombies
Zombies. They are an official "thing."
One Saturday evening, I was walking through the living room with a load of laundry in my hands. A commercial for a new movie flew across the screen. I exclaimed, startling everyone including Pickles, our evil cat: “Zombies! Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.”
I don’t know how you feel about it, but the term zombies is creepy to me. It sounds creepy. It looks creepy (I know they are just letters, but they're both visually and audibly grating.). And the image…
