Just two days ago, Sunday, April 19, the Chicago Cubs should have been in D.C. playing their 20th game of the 2020 season against the 2019 World Series Champs—The Washington Nationals. But, alas, the pandemic has put baseball, and all of sports, on hold. So what do we root for now? Well...last summer, I was sitting in the stands at Washington Nationals baseball park on the evening of July 23 hoping for one thing. I was in D.C. on business, and my sister, a D.C. transplant and fifteen-year … [Read more...] about The Do’s of Storytelling During COVID-19
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How To Show Up As Yourself
Up until a year ago, I used to drive a little Honda Civic. It was a pretty economical car with cloth seats and basic amenities. I would bring my big dog Sylvie in that car a lot too, so I’m sure it smelled like—well, dog. All of that was fine until I would show up for a speaking engagement at a country club or fancy shmancy place and have to use valet parking. Drat, I thought. Why didn’t I vacuum out my car before I came—get rid of some of the dog hair—or at least spray some … [Read more...] about How To Show Up As Yourself
How Joe Maddon Stole My Heart…And My Wallet
You might think it happened the night of Nov. 2, 2016 watching one of the most exciting World Series games ever—Game 7: Cubs vs Cleveland Indians. I was this close to calling it a night during the rain delay. Thank heavens I waited out those 17 minutes to witness one of the most memorable games in baseball history, that is if you’re a Cubs fan. You might think that’s the day Joe Maddon captured my heart. But you would be wrong. It actually happened the day I found out that Joe loved to … [Read more...] about How Joe Maddon Stole My Heart…And My Wallet
Storytelling Snapshots at Work
That’s a snapshot of the day I graduated from U of I—May, 1986. My roommates and I didn’t actually attend our graduation ceremony. We rented the robes and hats and orange and blue tassels (Go Illini!), but we had our own ceremony right in the living room of the large first-floor house we rented in Champaign-Urbana on Wright Street. We told our parents not to come because the commencement ceremonies “were just too big and impersonal.” Instead, we each wrote something to read, like a poem or … [Read more...] about Storytelling Snapshots at Work