A while ago, I got some brutal feedback from people in two different areas of my life. I think one person said, "I don't want to be discouraging, but . . ." He then proceeded to be say something very discouraging. It was hard to hear. To be honest, some of the feedback I didn't… Continue reading Accepting Feedback
Can I run away from the commands of the Lord? Can I flee when it is too hard? Board the ship, pay the fair, sail away. But the Lord is there, in the wind on the sea, in the violence of the storm. Even when I sleep, the Lord is there. I cannot awake and… Continue reading Jonah
At a writing conference, I asked a writer about advice on networking. And she said to treat everyone as your equal. There are certain situations you get it that have a hierarchy: at a writing conference, there are presenters and attendees. In college, there are teachers, graduate students, and undergraduates. Often, you are surrounded by… Continue reading Treat Everyone As Your Equal
You might have some big barriers and walls in your way to accomplish what you would would like and what is right. In your relationships, maybe there is contention and incompatibility that seems insurmountable. In your goals, maybe you have bad habits that always seem to ruin your productivity. You might simply not have the… Continue reading Sidestepping Barriers through Positive Thinking
This is how I make all of my major life decisions, and most of the minor ones too. Where I went to school. Who I married. When to have kids. When to go back to school. Where to live. It just feels right, so I do it. I have reasons. I list out reasons, but… Continue reading It felt like the right thing to do
Marriage isn't equal and fair. It's not about two people doing 50% of the work so it all gets done. In many ways, my husband is better than I am. He can have more energy, and can work longer and harder than I can (particularly in physical things). He remembers to rotate laundry and he… Continue reading Comparative Advantages and Inequality in Marriage
We don't know as much as we think we do. We are often mistaken and wrong and we need to rethink some of our beliefs a lot. I've been reading and thinking a lot about uncertainty and correcting beliefs. But I also have been reading and thinking about commitment too. Sometimes we want to commit… Continue reading Uncertainty and Belief
A professor in one of my classes told us that a philosophy paper gets lots of other people citing it when it is an easy target. Papers get cited not because they are good and authoritative, but because they are flawed, and then they get torn apart. I have experienced this often in school: We… Continue reading Tearing Down and Building Up
I have started graduate school. As I walk around campus, I look for people who are my age, and I don't see many of them. Most people there are younger than me, and many are older than me as well. Sometimes I do feel a bit out of place--I know that there are graduate students… Continue reading Graduate School
School starts tomorrow for most of my kids. I need to go fold laundry so that they can find what they want to wear, though I think they may have sorted through the laundry already. This doesn't feel that different: we just fall back into the old routine that we had a few months ago.… Continue reading Changes
Heather W. Hoyt 