Inspiring People
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Charity is Kind
It’s a bad sign when you ask someone about how their date went and they respond with, “It was … nice.” That’s not-so-subtle code for “it was boring as all get out and I’m hoping they lose my number.” It’s also how I described to my college roommate the first kiss I experienced with the guy I was dating at the time. She responded that he clearly wasn’t going to be the guy for me. It seems like “kind” is relegated to the same fate as “nice.” It’s not flashy or eye-catching. But I think we overlook the incredible value of these unassuming virtues. Consider this statement by Elder Joseph…
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Do the Next Right Thing
“Troubles never need to be permanent nor fatal. Darkness always yields to light. The sun always rises. Faith, hope, and charity will always triumph in the end. Furthermore, they will triumph all along the way.” – Jeffrey R. Holland, “Banishing All Shadows,” April 2018 The books that most captivate me tell stories of survival. I’ve read a lot about explorers and prisoners of war, drawn in by their perseverance through danger and deprivation. When my niece was deep down the rabbit hole of dystopian YA fiction, I told her that real life is much more interesting than fiction, and couldn’t I convince her to read about unbelievable things that actually…
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Sundays, Wednesdays, and Small Miracles
I had a tough time as a young girl understanding…well, girls. I grew up with two older brothers and a lot of neighborhood boys. I didn’t care much about clothes, except for the Cabbage Patch Doll shirt I had that featured 3D yarn braids–so rad. Poofy hair? Didn’t care. I was perplexed when the one girl my age down the street was mean and pouty. It was easier to play with Jeffy, exploring the old pioneer home and fort nearby. The only drama was when we hunkered down in the fort to seek protection from imagined attacks on the homestead. When I turned 12 and joined the Young Women program…
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Handwritten
“The beauty and nobility, the august mission and destiny, of human handwriting.” – George Bernard Shaw, Pygmalion Have you ever stumbled upon a handwritten something from someone you love who has died? A shopping list, a scrap once used as a bookmark, an envelope? Perhaps it had little to no meaning when written. But once found, doesn’t it feel like an immortalized piece of them? My mother has the most perfect cursive handwriting I’ve ever seen–so perfect that forging it is nigh unto impossible. It is loopy and lovely, and so distinctive. When Mom writes, she takes her time about it. It’s beautiful. I have a mountain of handwritten things…
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I Want to Live Again
This post will make more sense to you if you’ve seen the Frank Capra Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life.” If you haven’t seen it, what exactly have you been doing? I can’t fathom… George Bailey’s life wasn’t glamorous. It was the kind of life you and I live–mostly simple, with moments of miraculous and seasons of struggle. But after George experienced a crisis wherein he found out what it was like to not have that life–to be removed from all he built and loved, he begged his guardian angel to return him to his ordinary existence. “Get me back. I don’t care what happens to me. Get me back…
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Life’s Game of Seesaw
As promised in a previous post, here is the second of two family narratives I’m sharing. (See the first one here.) I composed this years ago while taking an opportunity to reflect on motherhood. Grandma lived through so much challenge, and she knew what was most important–God, family, service, love. In these things she found her joy. I didn’t get the opportunity as an adult to know Grandma Smith; she died when I was in my first semester of college. I have no memories of heart-to-hearts, no meaning-of-life discussions. What I remember are the songs. One she learned from her mom went like this: “School was just overNo books to…
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Born for Endurance
As promised in my last post, here is the first of two family narratives I’ll be sharing. I composed this in 2016, when my challenge was elective hiking. The piece reads much differently in today’s pandemic context. The underlying message of endurance, helpful then, feels crucial now. This hike is no different. I’ve climbed quickly, and the last stretches are looming and formidable after the exertion. My t-shirt is damp with sweat, my calves are tight, and I’m beginning to think that a break is in order. But in the very next moment, I decide I want this hike to be different. I want to push myself to be better, to…
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A Birthright of Stories
The single most important thing you can do for your family may be the simplest of all: develop a strong family narrative. – Bruce Feiler, The New York Times Like many, I grew up with stories. A collection of bedtime fairy tales, Nancy Drew, the Choose Your Own Adventure series, as well as The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series because my oldest brother was in to Tolkien and I read whatever I could get my hands on. I inhaled stories. I also had scores of family stories. I learned about how, when Dad and his brother were little, they got hauled down to the local police station…
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Be the Change You Seek
I’m fatigued. I’m tired of the societal junk I’m witnessing. Back-biting, in-fighting, political maneuvering, argument for the sake of argument. Seriously, I’m done. Not today, Satan. (Side note: I introduced this phrase to a friend who struggles with self-criticism, and told her she should use it as a mantra. She though I was telling her ‘not to date Satan.’ I mean, you know, both. Don’t allow Satan to trick you AND don’t date him or anyone resembling him.) Okay, back to it…Not today, Satan! I am actively working to reject the bad and embrace the good. And not in a head-in-the-sand Pollyannaish sort of way. I work to be educated…
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Ciao and Chow
Last year, I was lucky enough to become acquainted with a delightful professor of Italian. I helped Marie with revisions to Italian department curriculum, and she in turn gifted me friendship and food. The woman is a wizard in the kitchen. She cooks, bakes, and is the only person I know who makes gelato. Saying she makes gelato is hugely understating what she does. She has studied, invested, and practiced to the point that she’s a true gelato artist. Marie called my office one afternoon, “I have the gelato. I’ll bring it over just before five so you can get it home and in the freezer.” She breezed in with…