“There is simply no historical precedent for a global climate event of this magnitude.” — Mathematics and computer scientist, Professor Eliot Jacobson, talking about this year’s El Niño In my last newsletter, we talked about what climate resilience means. This week we’re going to explore what it means to put that into practice. Addressing climate change is usually defined as either mitigation (what we can do to reduce emissions) or adaptation (what we can do to protect ourselves and others in...
19 days ago • 12 min read
In response to my last newsletter, a reader asked me to define the term climate resilience and how I used that perspective to find a new home. This kind of curiosity makes my heart soar. As if I needed further proof that my readers are the smartest of the interwebs. But rather than focusing on finding a new place to live (a future newsletter topic for sure), I want to explore what climate resilience looks like right now. The topic is particularly timely in light of the likely historic El Niño...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
I never intended to take a year long break from writing this newsletter, but it’s been both chaotic and a time for serious reassessment. I want to thank everyone who reached out to inquire in the nicest way possible: what the heck happened to you?? The short answer is life happened, in its usual glorious and messy fashion. Over the space of about ten months, our daughter left for college, my husband retired, I closed my coaching business, we bought a house with climate resilience foremost in...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Around 8 years ago, an engineering company wanted to bring me in to help with hiring and employee morale. The company was asking employees to design software that would ultimately replace them. The CEO couldn’t understand why people weren’t more excited about the opportunity. As the CEO argued, there are endless problems to solve. Why not let the machines take this one, allowing the engineers to move on to another interesting problem? But the employees were already doing satisfying work that...
about 1 year ago • 6 min read
It’s a time of transition for our family. Our daughter graduates from high school in less than a week. In the fall, she heads out not just for college, but a semester abroad that is 6,252 miles from home. You might imagine I’m crying into my granola every morning. Noooooo. Not yet anyway. Instead, I’m observing my brain. Turns out, it’s hilarious. Weird times like these—when we’re doing something new, when we're scared and happy at the same time, when the world doesn’t make sense the way it...
about 1 year ago • 3 min read
As some of you noticed, I took an unexpected three month hiatus from writing this newsletter. If you’ve been following the news, you know that the United States is currently having a moment. Which has meant a lot of people in my network, many of whom are either scientists or government servants or both, are also having a moment. It’s been a difficult and bewildering time and I guess I’ve been waiting until I felt like I had something helpful to offer. So I thought I’d begin with what am I...
over 1 year ago • 3 min read
One of the things that’s always struck me as odd is how much advice there is about saving, but not about how and why to give. The assumption seems to be that giving comes naturally to people. I’d argue what most of us are good at is spending, which is really not the same thing. I first became aware of my own generosity gap in elementary school. I was sitting at the lunch table with my classmates when someone asked me for my cookie. Maybe I had more than one, I can’t remember. What I do...
over 1 year ago • 4 min read
In a bit of a gamble, I decided to plant some broccolini at the end of last summer. I was a new gardener and the temperatures that summer were particularly brutal. It was work to keep my plants alive. But people swore that gardening in the fall was easier, so I planted a total of eight broccolini plants along with a smattering of other plants like chard, kale, and cauliflower. I had no idea the ordeal I was in for. First, the summer heat lasted for another month or so which meant the bugs...
over 1 year ago • 4 min read
As I was contemplating new year’s resolutions, I observed that historically they’ve been all about me. What challenge I might take on. How much money I might make in my business. How I might look if I weighed less or exercised more. A lot of it, if I’m being honest, was about impressing people. I’m not saying those are bad goals. I did, in fact, set a “how I might look if I weighed less” goal this year and have no regrets. I’m not even saying it’s bad to want to impress people. That’s just...
over 1 year ago • 3 min read