Human connection is essential to survival. Even the most introverted among us still need community, belonging, and people who know our stories. Friends. Family. Chosen family. People who show up. I have no biological family in Rochester, yet somehow I’ve built a wide network of people here. Within that circle is a much smaller group of close friends who are family in every meaningful sense of the word. That community is one of the reasons I’ve been able to thrive here. For ma

Some posts don’t need to be rewritten. They just need to be shared again. I wrote this last year when I was more or less face-down on the floor trying to pick myself back up. Trying to learn how to love myself again. Trying to figure out who I was and who I was becoming. My time in the wilderness of KCMO and Kansas made me question just about every life choice I’ve ever made. There were moments earlier in my life when I struggled with intrusive thoughts, especially when I was

For years, people have argued about whether Jack could have fit on that floating door with Rose in the movie Titanic. Personally, I’m not convinced he could have. Physics aside, the door was already barely holding one freezing person above the water. Two probably would have sunk it. But that debate was never really the part of the movie that stuck with me. The moment that always stayed with me is when Rose realizes the rescue boats are coming. She understands she might actual

Some lessons apparently need to be repeated over and over again because people either refuse to learn them or keep pretending they didn’t hear them the first time. You know the saying that doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result is the definition of insanity? I’m starting to believe that might actually be the unofficial motto of my job at Circle K. At the gas station on 4th St SE, we currently only have 87 and 91 gas available. One of the u

Today was the first day I got to golf outside again at Willow Creek with my friend Tamsen, and it was glorious. When you live somewhere like Minnesota, you forget that the places that bring you peace are real places. For six months, they might as well not exist. You hibernate indoors all winter and then suddenly one day you're back outside, walking fairways again, wondering why on earth you live somewhere you can only golf half the year. It felt good to be outside. Even if th

I learned about girl math today. I find it both mind-boggling, ridiculous, and honestly kind of brilliant. The logic behind it is actually pretty structured. It makes sense… inside girl world. For the sake of this reflection we’re going to drop the political correctness and the disclaimers about sweeping generalizations. I know all of that. I spent over a decade teaching people about things like the pyramid of hate and how stereotypes work. This is a Lenten post, not a DEI TE

As I’ve said before, I mostly do things for the plot and character development. But the other part is understanding and participating in the human experience. Every risk I’ve ever taken in life has somehow been calculated and weighed. And after some questionable life choices, I usually ask myself one simple question, “But… did you die?” So far, the answer has been no. Which means the story continues. I was recently retelling a story about an ex from my early twenties who took

I was speaking to a very lovely human tonight who told me something funny her son said: The idea of living for eternity seems like the worst idea ever (I'm paraphrasing). Honestly, he might be onto something. I mean, imagine having to listen to church music for eternity. That sounds awful. It's like having to listen to Christmas music all year long at the Circle K. Which is why I sometimes joke with my co-workers that hell is probably just people working at a gas station fore

I would be remiss not to acknowledge what is happening in the world right now. It is not good. Historically, the United States has rarely been free from international conflict, and the reasons we give for being there--to defend freedom, to help people, to protect the vulnerable--often do not match the reality of what happens on the ground. If we were truly there to protect people, we would not be bombing a school full of girls. Beautiful babies with entire lives ahead of them

One night over drinks, a friend said something that has been circling in my head ever since. We were talking about golf, about mechanics and consistency, and how improvement only comes if you’re willing to practice, learn the fundamentals, and repeat the same motion over and over again, but what we were really talking about was doing the work. She works in healthcare, which means she has a front row seat to what happens when people neglect themselves for years and then act su