Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

Today I start a new beginning, at 56. For the last 32 years I have been an educator and before that I was a student. Perhaps this explains why I am full of questions. Intellectually, I want to know. I find beauty in human diversity. I see possibility in divergence. In today’s world, it can be tough to be open and even tougher to be an optimist. Society seemingly demands you to pick a side, accept simplistic solutions, and never venture far from the common view. For those of us who resist false dichotomies and seek new ideas to push our limited boundaries, this territorial approach to life in the United State unnerving at best. So I humbly offer this blog. Perhaps no one will read it, I can’t really imagine that my voice can add to the ever increasing clanging that is social media…..and yet…… I want my voice to be heard. I want to reaffirm that there are individuals still committed to reason …still committed to simply finding joy in the human experience.

I am that individual. I know that I must chose hope each day as an active endeavor. Each day, I have to reaffirm my identity and chose my priorities. I am a woman, a mother, a wife. I am a scholar, a christian, a citizen. I am a traveler who delights in seeing the world and interacting with its wonderful people. I am a wanderer adrift in this age of anxiety……not quite belonging to any tribe……but always a prisoner of hope.