What I Respect Most in Others

In her book, Writing to Change the World, Mary Pipher asks writers to consider various questions to help us understand ourselves better. One of her questions is this:

What do you most respect in others? 

Immediately, I knew.

It's kindness. 

In other words, benevolence. In other words, the willingness to want, with every interaction, to help others and to love them. I find kindness irresistible. I'd rather have kind children than smart, talented, or beautiful ones. I'd rather be known as kind than clever. 

It's kindness. I pray for this character trait to grow in me and my family more and more. 

The Day I Lectured in a Math Class

Today I guest lectured in a Math class of all things. Are you chuckling with compassion? I comforted myself and eased my nerves by saying, "Whatever weakness I possess in math, I more than make up for in verbs."

I aimed to help math students write more clearly and effectively as they blog about various measurable environmental issues--whether water, meat consumption, fracking, or any interesting and timely environmental matter. I'm inviting them to showcase their equations and results in a way that engages a real audience and motivates them to change.

What a fun, unusual day! Picture me up there alongside the math professors. Picture all the incomprehensible math formulas swirling about (they weren't actually there; I saw them in my mind, and I didn't understand a single thing). Picture my song and dance of verbs, semicolons, and sentence patterns.

Patterns? Hey, this moment synchronized writing and numbers after all. Writing contains a numeric component! Oh, beautiful harmony!

Yes, I brought a handout with 400 of my favorite verbs. I counted them, probably incorrectly. 

I wish to collaborate even more with my mathematics professor friends. I enjoyed myself thoroughly. I even took a photo to commemorate the day I lectured to mathematics students and survived.

And I was invited back next semester. Sweet victory!

Better and Better

On this beautifully chilled Sunday, we all enjoy Pennsylvania's gentle transition to autumn. We bring in enormous acorns to paint already, and we've even turned over the closets into colder weather clothes. We swing the back door wide open to let in the crisp morning air. We brew coffee and bring home the pumpkin spiced creamer now available. I'll make my first batch of butternut squash soup this week.

It's autumn! Nothing feels better than this as I get dressed for church. It's such a happy morning, and I haven't even had coffee yet.

As I pull the pumpkin spiced creamer from the refrigerator full of a disproportionate amount of joy (it's just creamer), my youngest shakes her head as if I'm simply too easy to please. She looks at me and says, "Well this day just keeps getting better and better for you doesn't it?"

Yes, it does. It's the kind of season that brings better and better things. I can't wait for the leaves to change colors, for the apple cider at the fruit farm, for the harvest candles and wreaths, and for the warm sweaters--no coat yet--that I pull on each morning.

Yes, it gets better and better.