“Let this be the year that you change the world.” These are the words that were going through my mind when I woke up on Christmas morning. This is something that happens every once in a while – I wake up in the morning, and by the time I’m fully conscious, which is just a second or two later, I realize that there’s a phrase or sentence repeating itself in my brain. Sometimes it’s a line from a song, and I find myself thinking back [...]
I received a number of comments on last week’s column about my trip to Duluth for a Toastmasters presentation the previous weekend. Some people mentioned their own visits to – or memories of –Duluth, including someone who recommended that I visit the aquarium the next time I’m in Duluth, if I haven’t already done so. I haven’t, but will make a point of it the next time I go. Others commented – and eloquently so – on Lake Superior, in response to my mentioning the [...]
I was in Duluth last weekend for a presentation at a Toastmasters educational/training event. Two friends came with me, partly because they wanted to hear me speak and partly for moral support and for a bit of a girls’ weekend. It was late on Friday afternoon when we got to Duluth. For several miles, I had been admiring and commenting on the bright, full moon in the crisp, clear sky. As we reached the edge of Lake Superior, the time of day could not have [...]
I had coffee last weekend with a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time. We first met each other at a Toastmasters event years ago, and found we had a lot in common. We used to see each other pretty regularly, then our schedules, work and timetables shifted. We still touched base from time to time, but until last weekend I hadn’t seen her in ages. You can probably guess how the next part of this goes. After a big hug and a little [...]
They are beautiful young women. Girls, actually, with many of them between the ages of 18 and 25, and some even younger. They have sweet, shy smiles, but very little to smile about. They live and work in the slums near Kampala, and the way they earn their money is the only way they can. They don’t get much for their efforts. A few thousand Ugandan shillings, which equals less than a dollar in U.S. currency. Sometimes they don’t get paid at all, as when [...]