Monthly Archives: October 2024

Your Voice is Your Power: Standing Up for Democracy in a Divisive Election Season

Posted by on

As we go about our daily work and home life, who can forget that there is an election going on? Even if you are not watching or reading the news you can’t escape it. Nor should you. This is probably the most consequential presidential election of our lifetime. We all must ask ourselves what kind of world we want for our children and grandchildren. Who speaks to our values? Who can we trust with our future and our democracy?

If you know me or are a regular reader of my blog, you know my answer. Yes, I have a button that says, “We are not going back”. And I have my “I voted early” sticker. With this consequential election a week away, I can’t be silent.

I proudly display my RBG art in my home workspace where she is visible over my shoulder on all my zoom calls and podcast interviews. It is often a conversation starter with both men and women when they see it for the first time.

While we may want to shy away from speaking out and openly supporting the candidate of our choice, I have great respect for people who are willing to publicly state their support for Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz as our next President and Vice President. This includes a growing list of business leaders. And not to be ignored, many long-standing Republican leaders and former Trump administration officials are warning us based on their first-hand knowledge and experience that he is unfit to lead and a danger to our democracy.

I am encouraged to see healthcare leaders willing to post their very insightful support for the Harris/Walz ticket on LinkedIn which is supposed to be a professional network and not political. Continue reading →

Embracing life’s fragility: personal connections and enduring friendships

Posted by on

It’s been several weeks since I last wrote. In my last post I talked about cultivating your professional network and the give and take of relationships. In this post, personal connections and friendships are top of mind.

Shortly after my last blog post, I had a lovely 2-week vacation with my sister and my husband traveling the varied beauty of California from the ocean to the giant sequoias to the canyons and mountains. My sister’s husband passed away two years ago, and we have become her favorite travel buddies. This is the second year that the three of us have taken a trip together. Any time we spend together is a treasure.

But my West Coast vacation ended on a sad note. I added a few extra days to my trip so I could attend a memorial service in the Northwest for a good friend who had died unexpectedly a month earlier. She was a friend we didn’t see or talk to often but when we did, our close friendship with her and her husband picked up easily where it had last left off.

There is nothing like a memorial service and talking with a grieving family to cause deep reflection and introspection about one’s own mortality and to remind us what really matters in life.

My drive from the airport to the town they live in was a 2-hour drive through a beautiful part of Washington state. I had plenty of time each way in the car alone to reflect on life. While my husband and I have joked about making sure I know all the passwords if something happens to him, the sudden and unexpected loss of a loved one is anything but a joke. It rips your heart out and leaves you and your family devastated. But time heals. And you carry on. And that’s what my friend and his family are doing, hard as it is. They have lost a spouse, a mother, a grandmother, a daughter and a sister. They have lost one of their “big rocks”.

I’ve written about “big rocks” a few times in the past. We need to know who they are and put them ahead of all the little rocks and distractions that take our time and energy. We need to live life to the fullest and love deeply those who matter most to us. And we need to be kind to all who cross our path. As the family eulogies at the memorial service pointed out, we will be remembered not for what we did or accomplished but for the kind of person we were and how we made others feel.

Related Posts:

Do you know your big rocks?

Take time to reboot

Time to stop and smell the roses

Time to stop and smell the roses – part 2