Posts By: Janet Givens
I’m musing a lot lately. Pondering, imagining, wondering. Are you musing more these days, too? I find it’s a calm, curious place to be. No compelling urge to explore; I just ponder. I’ve come up with four particular musings that intrigue me and plan to offer them here one at a time. Perhaps by the… more »
So I’ve got a conflict to toss around. Sort of. Not the “difficult conversation” type conflict I’ve been so focused on of late. — or rather had been before my attention zoomed over to COVID. (Zoomed, you get it? Sorry). This one is more a conflict within myself. Another who-do-I-believe? conflict. And it has to… more »
Another acronym has found me. They do that alot, from my use of CD (first for Cultural Differences, then for Civil Discourse) to my three Cs — curiosity, compassion, and courage — and to my new book LEAPFROG (How to hold a civil conversation in an uncivil era). What’s in my BAG? It’s how I’m… more »
Surely you recognize this photo by now. It is the hill near Taylor Hall where National Guardsmen, many not much older than the students down below, opened fire, killing four and wounding nine. Here’s what I wrote two years ago on Remembering Kent State killings: On Monday, May 4, 1970, at twenty minutes past noon,… more »
There is an upside in all this. There is always an upside. Call it lemonade (from lemons). Call it accepting the unacceptable. Call it gratitude. It doesn’t matter what you call it; the trick is in recognizing there is an upside. And knowing there are generally quite a few. More time to spend with family?… more »
Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a little while. Elton John And Nelson Mandela once said that music “has the power to elevate and liberate us.” Same idea, yes? That is what I’m seeking: elevation and liberation. Not necessarily in that order. Here to start us off:… more »
The times they are a changin’ sang Bob Dylan way back when. And, somehow, that feels like a fitting song for these days when so much is changing. For starters, I’ve gone from sprint mode to marathon mode in the past two weeks. Three weeks, tops, I had thought at the start. If we all… more »
Have you been wearing your face mask when you go out? I ask because when I was out and about (wearing mine) I felt a mixture of emotions. PRIDE that I was doing my part, small as it was; FEAR that maybe I had misunderstood the reports and I was perhaps over reacting; and EMBARRASSMENT;… more »
My friend, Vermonter Annika McCann, posted this photo of herself to her Facebook page recently under the heading, “This is my new day job.” Here’s her story In addition to my CBD business (Primal Botanical), I work as a nurse. In response to this novel coronavirus, my hospital hastily converted its day surgery… more »
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