Changed for the Better

Changed for the Better: episode 29

Jessica Butler (La Presidenta) was tiny force of nature in Thespians. Taking notice of our drama club in middle school, she made an instant decision: she would lead the troupe in her senior year. Challenge accepted. In this episode, we discuss mentorship, embracing your ability in the face of imposter syndrome, and learning how to "figure it out."

Changed for the Better

Changed for the Better, episode 26

Today's blog focuses on Michaelle Vilsa, Spring Valley High School class of 2014. From her high school days to the present, Michaelle has always done her best work in the spotlight. Read on to learn how she's taken her early training in the arts to new heights.

My Weight-Loss Journey

Weight-Loss part 6: Summertime Sustenance

A 50-year-old mom's greatest weight-maintenance challenge, besides age, is dinnertime. Read to learn more about the daily work-in-progress as the summertime schedule sets in.

Changed for the Better

Changed for the Better: the power of arts in education, episode 17

We have a tendency to stay comfortable. Part of growing up is learning to sit in a space where you don't have control, that pushes your buttons and still tolerating feelings of awkwardness and instability. Sofia Poe tells us how she did just that.

Changed for the Better

Changed for the Better: the power of arts in education, episode 11

Growing a leader requires an infusion of trust in a young person and giving them the support it takes to help them trust themselves. Becoming a leader requires taking that trust and further developing it yourself. This week's discussion with Hilary Becker-Jarusinsky shows how this can be accomplished through arts education.

Geriatric Gymnast

The road to mastery

The road to skill mastery requires successful attempts over hundreds of trials over years and years. This chapter of Geriatric Gymnastics delves into the mental and physical development that is necessary in order to safely build confidence and consistency when you're training as an adult gymnast.

My Weight-Loss Journey

Weight-Loss part 2: Remembering What Works

Understanding the habits you must adjust and/or maintain to keep your weight and overall health in check. These habits are both mental and physical, require thought, planning, and daily mindfulness in order to get to and stay in your healthy weight zone.  Here’s a little summary of some of the main the strategies I’m using on a daily basis.

Self Care

Ruminations of a good person

When I start to notice ruminative thoughts creep in and multiply, I try to write. It's a way of acknowledging the thoughts, accepting they are there, and trying to insert thoughts that are more productive. This is a product of that process.

Family · Self Care

A new chapter in parenting

t’s been a long time coming. We hadn’t been away from the house for more than several of hours, much less an overnight. For a long stretch, maybe 5 or 6 years, we have had so many reasons to stay home. Kids, anxious pets, viral pandemic - they all gave us more than enough pause to do anything that was just the two of us.

Self Care

Back in Flyte

Today, for the first time in a year and a half, I returned to my aerial yoga class at Soul Flyte. I know it doesn’t seem like a big deal - it’s just a workout class, right? Well, not exactly. It takes a lot for me to make a commitment to something. Whatever the activity,… Continue reading Back in Flyte

Self Care

Smile – COVID Hasn’t Won

For the first time in over a year and a half, I dropped my daughter off at her theatre camp program in Nyack and went for a long walk. For years, this was a regular practice of mine; drop her off, park in my special secret free parking spot, and either start walking or take… Continue reading Smile – COVID Hasn’t Won