It has mostly been a quiet year and I like it that way.

One of the year's most fulfilling activities was joining a tiny writing co-op. We meet once a week for a couple hours on Zoom. Though not strictly required, participating in the weekly workshop is akin to a potluck; you might come empty-handed occasionally, but contributing regularly is part of being in the community. Both reading and being read constitute the heart and soul of the community.

A great teacher can bend the arc of a life in ways that can produce extraordinary outcomes–sometimes in just a tiny number of interactions. This morning I got messages from Richard and couple students expressing appreciation for my odd autobiographical methods talk that started right here in Spokane at the community college and loops back around 35 years later to say thank you.

All will not go well. You should know that to speak out loud is to be misunderstood. You should know that you will go out and pour your whole heart into the world and someone will watch and then sit back and say: “Well, that’s not much!”

I have a special fondness I carry for folks with developmental disabilities. Here is the story behind that fondness. This blog written perhaps a decade ago seems worth revisiting today. I have a keynote to give “on method” and will acknowledge these folks who taught me so much.

A part of my job involves teaching people to do psychotherapy. Some days I complain about my job–like pretty much everyone. But some days remind me how fortunate I am to have work that I love. Last Tuesday was one of those days. We had a chance to brush aside the nonsense and to sit at the intersection of tremendous longing and tremendous self-doubt.

I could choose a lot of days over the course of my life that were turning points, but this particular day is big. Today, June the 1st, marks 30 years of continuous sobriety. The last day of May, 1985, I was 30 years old. I had lived off the grid since I moved from my parent’s home in 1971. My life up to that point had been a series of drunken, drugged, often suicidal days.

For all the grad students out there (or maybe everyone)…take a look at this face. This is one of my brand new PhDs, Lindsay Schnetzer. If you are struggling, suffering, wondering, let me promise you I saw this one struggle, suffer, and wonder. I mean all the way down into the deeps.

Anyone who has been around me and allowed me to speak during the past several years knows that I have become increasingly interested in lifestyle changes to improve physical and psychological wellbeing. Exercise is an important piece of the puzzle.

In my mix with the world, I have had occasion this morning to think hard about the recent death of David Carr.