"Smell the sea and feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly."

"Smell the sea and feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly." - Van Morrison

I've decided that I'm not quite ready to talk about the start of the new school year, so I'm returning to the blog with a short video with some of what I did this summer. I soaked in the beauty of a PNW beach, spent time with people who fill my heart and my soul. I ate, drank, and was merry. My soul and spirit flew. It was bliss. 💓💓💓

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"Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience" Ralph Waldo Emerson

When I decided to apply to serve in the Peace Corps (PC), I knew that it was going to be a lengthy process. It was late in 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic surged ahead, and I was still doing my job from my living room. There were a lot of uncertainties--not only in my life, but for everyone, everywhere. One of the positive outcomes of the pandemic was that Peace Corps had a lot of online panels, workshops, and meeting opportunities. I took full advantage of these! In addition to attending panels with returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), I also went to online office hours with my local PC recruiter from Seattle. PC provided a fantastic resume and personal statement workshop; and the local recruiter read over both and gave me feedback. I also got feedback from colleagues; for anyone thinking about applying, I strongly encourage you to solicit impact from multiple folks on your application materials. I finally submitted my...

"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" - Mary Oliver

Welcome and thank you for checking out my blog. I am excited to share my Peace Corps journey with you all! When I tell people that I'm going to serve in the Peace Corps, there is usually an initial reaction of "that's really great" followed by something along the lines of "and at your age!" It's true--I am in definitely in the minority in terms of age when it comes to volunteers--only about 7% of volunteers are over 50. Serving was something that I wanted to do after college, but for several reasons, the time wasn't right. Fast forward a couple decades and I find myself called to service and in a place personally and professionally where I am able to answer the call. So in just a couple months, I'll pack everything into a storage unit and move to the Eastern Caribbean for twenty-seven months. I'll be serving as an English literacy resource volunteer in a primary school. Watch this space--my goal is to share my experiences...

“The most valuable thing we can do for the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of room, not try to be or do anything whatever.” ― May Sarton

I’m writing this on the last day of our spring break. We had two weeks off, and for reasons that are a whole story in and of themselves, I couldn’t travel off island. So here I’ve been—all too aware of the last time I had so much time off of work and how I ended up in a not-so-awesome mental space. But this time was different—I made a very deliberate choice to engage in “conscious escapism”. Usually, escapism is a mechanism to avoid dealing with reality and the feelings associated with reality. Conscious escapism, in contrast, recognizes the feelings and emotions followed by temporary solace in your activities of choice. For me, that has meant that every day I’m still practicing mindfulness and meditation, but then I just sort of “checked out” for the majority of the day by watching telly or reading. I did spend some time working on projects for my return to PLU because I’ve missed that work and it nourishes me in a way that nothing here ...

One Wild and Precious Life

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