What commitments (deep dedications and priorities) drive everyday living? This question feels essential for everyday living for justice. Too often, though, it remains unanswered or even unarticulated. Without knowing what matters to us deeply—so deeply that it mobilizes, energizes, and guides decision-making—it’s too easy to be on autopilot and to feed the status quo, even when it undermines professed beliefs. To interrupt the autopilot conditioning that preserves ... Read more ...
Career Discernment for Academics: An Interview with Self-Compassionate Professor
I’m grateful to Danielle De La Mare of the Self-Compassionate Professor for inviting me to do an interview that’s become “Episode 19: Career Discernment with Dr. Beth Godbee.” This interview relates both my career discernment story and how I understand career discernment as a lifelong, ongoing process of finding and following the “strong yes.” Here’s what Danielle says about the interview: “Former professor, Dr. Beth Godbee, joins me for the first episode of Season 2! ... Read more ...
Summer 2020 Is Calling for Change, and Processing Groups Can Support Change-Making Reflection and Re-Commitment
Among the many needs of this time, holding spaces—that is, spaces for processing, reflection, somatic awareness, and grounded re-commitment—feel particularly important. With this need in mind, I’m continuing to hold lunchtime processing groups: “Processing the Pandemic with Heart-Head-Hands.” Throughout the spring, these groups felt supportive for me—like I’d learn or remember or release something new with each session. So, this summer, I'm continuing to facilitate ... Read more ...
Resources for Sustaining Momentum and Doing Everyday Racial Justice Work
We’re in a time of urgent and important work for racial justice: lots of action alongside lots of learning and unlearning. I’m deeply grateful for the leadership, actions, and visions offered through the Movement for Black Lives Matters. I’m deeply grateful for people reaching out, being in the streets, organizing actions, holding space, and diving deep into hurt and rage and grief and more. And I’m deeply grateful for being called to this work: both in this moment and ... Read more ...
Unraveling Whiteness: A Call for More Courage
I’m thinking about whiteness—the structure, ideology, and everyday enactments—as I try to process (yet again) how white people weaponize whiteness. My heart is hurting with rage and grief from recent events, explained in these articles from The Root: “‘There’s an African-American Man Threatening My Life’: Karen Calls Police on Black Man for Asking Her to Leash Her Dog” “Outrage in Minneapolis after Black Man Dies in Custody Following Brutal Police Arrest: ‘I Cannot ... Read more ...
Mac and Cheese with a Kick: 4-Ingredient Vegan and Gluten-Free Twist on This Favorite Comfort Food
Mac and cheese is one of my favorite comfort foods, so when I became vegan in 2013, I began adapting familiar recipes. Some ways of making this favorite food are more complicated, but this 4-ingredient recipe is simple, straightforward, and smile-producing. In the pandemic, I’m cooking at home daily, even as my energy fluctuates day-to-day. This means that I sometimes want to stretch myself, try new recipes, and spend hours in the kitchen. On these days, cooking feels ... Read more ...
7 Strategies for Soothing Aches and Pains During the Pandemic
It’s been weeks since I’ve had acupuncture, and old aches and pains are now resurfacing during the pandemic. In this week’s session of “Processing the Pandemic with Heart-Head-Hands,” I realized I wasn’t alone in having these sensations. Our conversation turned to shared back pains and how we’re supporting our bodies while staying at home and missing bodywork. Because many of us are dealing with similar questions of how to soothe aches and pains, I’m sharing what’s ... Read more ...
Q&A with Ileana Rodriguez: How Scrubs Station Spreads Hope During the Pandemic
There are many needs amplified during the pandemic, and among them are the needs to support small businesses and healthcare workers. It’s possible to do both through the plan shared here by Ileana Rodriguez of Scrubs Station. Read about Ileana. Get inspired by her story. And, if you can, buy a gift card to bring scrubs to healthcare workers. Why Highlight Ileana Rodriquez and Scrubs Station? I met Ileana Rodriguez back in 2008 in the Madison Public Library. At the time, ... Read more ...
Wailing with the Wind: On Disrupting Work During the Pandemic
It’s windy today—the sort of wind that announces springtime. The sort of wind that lulls and gusts. The sort of wind that howls and rattles windows. The sort of wind that whips through rooms, scattering papers. As it has here: The wind has scattered page proofs that I’ve been pushing myself to review, responding to an email that came out of the blue, asking for proofs to be returned in under a week. On the one hand, these proofs represent good news: a chapter written ... Read more ...
Heart-Head-Hands: A Journal Prompt for These Times
On this last day of March, I’m reflecting on what times we’re in. Truly: what times we’re in! I’ve written this sentence no fewer than 30 or 40 times in the past few weeks, but I’m still writing it, as I find myself at a loss for words. We’re certainly in times that are asking a LOT of us: from recognizing structural violence and witnessing wrongdoing to grieving through a full range of emotions and caring for ourselves and others in deep and sustained ways. My ... Read more ...
