Thinking and Seeing for Better Being
How one woman’s fierce faith, clarity, and quiet power is helping me find my voice, my peace, and the man I am becoming. This is Forming 2.0. Why This Story, Why Now After 37 years of teaching—elementary kids, middle schoolers, high school teens, and college students—I’ve learned that stories aren’t just memories. They’re maps. They... Continue Reading →
Daily writing promptIf you could be a character from a book or film, who would you be? Why?View all responses not a hero, not a villain… just… forming—DGraf What character would you be from a book or film? It’s a question that tugs at something deeper.Not just about picking a name—but unveiling a longing.A glimpse... Continue Reading →
What animals make the best/worst pets? Winston knows things. Sometimes the real adventure of pet ownership is in the humans.When the pandemic hit and we all stayed home, our pets had thoughts.Dogs? Overjoyed."I knew he loved me so much he quit his job just to stay home with me!"Cats? Suspicious."I knew that lazy bum would... Continue Reading →
What job would you do for free? Art room mural painted with fingers, mostly What Job Is Worth Doing for Free?I teach art. Not for the paycheck—though it does help pay the bills and allow Lindsey and I to get away once in a while—but because creating is essential to who I am. I create... Continue Reading →
There is a lot going on in that little pond. Less Splash, More Soul Sometimes you hit publish and feel the glow.Other times, you look back and go, “Oops. That was a bit much.” My last post—pebbles, ponds, ripples, the whole splashy metaphor parade—tried to do too much. I dumped a bag of ideas into... Continue Reading →
Daily writing promptHow would you improve your community?View all responses Dancing with the waves Ripples, Habits, and Lighting Up the Room: How to Improve Your Community, One Splash at a Time Picture this: You toss a pebble into a pond. It’s small, unassuming, but the ripples stretch out, tickling the shore. That’s you in your... Continue Reading →
Charcoal on Newsprint - Life Drawing Class Too Much World “The bright side of the planet moves toward darknessAnd the cities are falling asleep, each in its hour,And for me, now as then, it is too much.There is too much world.”— Czesław Miłosz, The Separate Notebooks That was the feeling I tried to capture in... Continue Reading →
Daily writing promptWhich aspects do you think makes a person unique?View all responses Making Hall Duty Useful A quiet moment. A moving hallway. A reminder that we are shaped not just by what happens—but by how we see. I was sitting in the hallway at school—hall duty.A job I never trained for in grad school.Teens... Continue Reading →
What Makes You Laugh?Finding joy, surprise, and grace in the chaos of parenting—and remembering to abide You know God has a sense of humor.He says, “Be anxious for nothing”—and then gives us children. My kids make me laugh. They also make me cry. Sometimes both in the same breath. Like the day I found Lucy... Continue Reading →
While Waiting Originally written: February 16, 2011 I went to the mall to purchase a gift card from a store aimed squarely at teens. Honestly, it might be more accurate to call it Forever 12, but that name probably wouldn’t pull the same numbers. A few things disturbed me. First—the lines. Long, winding, relentless. The... Continue Reading →
Forming 2.0 