Julie explores life with curiosity, creativity, and connection. I share observations with humor, offering perspective on the world and how it shapes us—lightening life’s complexities along the way.
There is a notification on your phone right now. You don’t even have to check. You just know. There is also, probably, a tab you haven’t closed in four days, an email you’ve been meaning to respond to since Tuesday, and a low-grade hum in the
History has a way of asking uncomfortable questions. Sometimes those questions don’t arrive for centuries. The Netherlands is living through one of those moments now. For generations, Dutch schoolchildren learned about what was proudly called the Golden Age—roughly the 17th century, when Dutch merchants dominated global trade, artists
There is a question every democracy eventually has to confront. What do you do when your government lies to you? Not makes a mistake. Not gets something wrong because the facts are still emerging. Lies. History tells us this isn’t a hypothetical question. It has happened before, and it
Every nation has a story it tells about itself. Some are built around bloodlines. Others around language, religion, or ancestry. If you are born into the “right” family, speak the “right” language, or belong to the “right” ethnic group, you belong. The United States was supposed to be different. From
A few days ago, millions of Americans celebrated Independence Day. Television cameras once again swept across Mount Rushmore—the familiar faces of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln carved into the granite of South Dakota’s Black Hills. It’s an iconic American image. But there’s another story written into
There was a time when we thought intelligence was a number. A clean, tidy number. You took a test. You got a score. And just like that, you were labeled—smart, average, struggling. Efficient. Reassuring. Completely wrong. Because if intelligence were just IQ, the world would be run exclusively by
It’s July. The tomatoes are growing. The flowers need watering. The dog wants another walk before the Indiana heat settles in for the day. Dale and I find ourselves watching travel videos, dreaming about where our feet might take us next. I’m celebrating one book already published, preparing
Patriotism Doesn’t Need a Parade. It Needs a Backbone. Happy Fourth of July. Today we’ll wave flags the size of pickup trucks. We’ll wear enough stars and stripes to qualify as temporary national monuments. We’ll grill hot dogs, argue about potato salad, and pretend that setting
Tomorrow, America celebrates 250 years. Or at least that’s what the invitation says. Somewhere between the fireworks, the flag-themed paper plates, and Uncle Bob explaining the Constitution while simultaneously misquoting it, we’re supposed to pause and celebrate the remarkable experiment called American democracy. Instead, it feels as
There are moments that change history. The moon landing. The invention of sliced bread. The day someone decided avocado belonged on toast. And now… Twenty-two glorious seconds of Sophie Cunningham standing on a basketball court, silently pointing at another player like an elementary school crossing guard who had simply
For most of my life, I thought success came from having a plan. Actually…let me correct that. I thought success came from having every plan. A backup plan.A contingency plan.A spreadsheet.A timeline.A risk assessment. Thirty years in corporate project management will do that to a
There was no announcement. No one sent a note saying, “This part of your life has ended.” No ceremony. No clean break. Just a slow, almost polite disappearance. For years, I knew exactly where I fit. In corporate life, there was no ambiguity. I walked into rooms where people expected