Politics and the Environment: The Good, Bad, Complicated, and Promising
The Good Fact #1: The Clean Air Act was passed in 1970 with a unanimous vote from the Senate and only one nay vote from the House. This is just one…
Two worlds in tandem: moving from the past to the present
February 8, 2017, would have been my dad's 66th birthday. He has been gone for nearly 8 years. I have been thinking a lot lately about things that come in…
Thoughts following the Women’s March
Our future generations will remember that on January 21st, 2017, 2.9 million people joined the Women's March for peace and equal rights in an environment where we have been incited…
The Gettysburg Address. Still relevant today.
What does it mean to be In Unison?
It is two days after Martin Luther King Day and two days before the 45th Presidential Inauguration. We began the week by honoring the memory of a man who emerged…
Art Residency at the Madison Bubbler
When I first learned that Wisconsinites called water fountains "bubblers" I laughed and thought it was ridiculous. Now, after more than six years of living in Wisconsin, I'll be the…
The benefits of keeping a journal: paper time machines and thoughts from the soul
I keep a hand-written journal, to log the often boring, redundant, silly, serious, terrible, hopeful, vulnerable thoughts that I have. My current journal is handmade and has a sister that…
Jenie Gao running through electrical wire at the finish line of the Tough Mudder
“Only a fool trips on what’s behind him”
"Only a fool trips on what's behind him." I had a thrilling, amazing, tumultuous, nerve-wracking, at times unpredictable, unforgettable, educational, creative, and fulfilling 2016. Full of growing pains and gains,…
Today, we wear white
When I was a kid, my parents pounded into my head how lucky I am to have been born in the US. My mom, especially, emphasized how lucky as a…
In Pursuit of Purpose
I've been thinking a lot about what makes for meaningful work. People often think that finding meaning is the same as finding happiness. More accurately, it's about being willing to…
What God Looks Like
My mother once told me the story of a cartoon she saw in a newspaper some years ago, which explained God. In the cartoon, God is a faceless, featureless oval on a table. People come…