Ricardo at GLSEN headquarters recently asked me to write a blog post about how GLSEN Greater Wichita got its start and to give some pointers to other people interested in starting a GLSEN Chapter in their area. I agreed to do it, and through this experience I learned that writing for a deadline is hard, y’all. Props to you real writers out there who can get inspired words to strike on demand. Anyhoo, I found it incredibly difficult to tell the story in a concise and coherent post! Someday I’d like to write up the whole, long, messy and inspired story about how GLSEN Greater Wichita came to be, but for now if you’d like to know more about it, you’ll have to check it out here.
Originally published January 13, 2014
Thanks to my three year old son, we own the song Let it Go from the new Disney movie Frozen. We listen to it regularly, loudly and on repeat. It’s on my phone, my computer and my MP3 player, making it possible for us to sing along to it almost anywhere, and we DO sing along to it almost anywhere. Today while I was preparing a meal for the crockpot and he was painting at the table, the song blared on repeat, and I realized why I love this song so much. Let me break down some of the lyrics for you, but first, you have to know something. I have anxiety. It’s not as bad as it used to be, and most of the time I consider myself “cured.” FYI, the way I’m measuring being cured means I made it through the holidays this year without throwing up or breaking out in a rash, and I spoke in front of a large group of women last fall without…well, throwing up or breaking out in a rash. Things that either I haven’t been able to do for the past several years and/or never would have thought I was able to do a few years ago. Every time I hear this Disney song, though, something stirs inside of me. It’s like an anthem for part of my soul that didn’t have the words to escape before. Some genius Disney songwriter found the words… Yes, I’m a bit dramatic when it comes to speaking about emotions, but follow me through this song to understand, will ya? Read More →
Originally published August 9th, 2013.
Society can break people. On the day I realized this, I was in a 6th grade classroom in Manhattan, Ks. It would be my first opportunity in life to look someone in the eyes and try to help them heal. I was a sparkly-eyed bilingual elementary education student teacher with dreams of changing the world, in what I considered at the time to be a diverse school. That’s when a 6th grade student, Francisco*, broke my heart.