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BePresent
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Listen
Listen 2560 2560 Nicole

One of the most difficult activities for human beings, perhaps the most difficult, is to listen. It asks that I remain still for a time, that my focus lingers on the object of my listening attention for the duration of the message being communicated. It is active. It is intentional. It is human. When Louis…

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Live, Move, Be
Live, Move, Be 2019 2019 Nicole
Today, I am so inspired, encouraged and strengthened by these beautiful people. Howie and Lysander and a dozen more from DGFUMC are being present to other beautiful people in another city. read more
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License to Commune – Day Thirty-One
License to Commune – Day Thirty-One Nicole

Today I spent time at the DMV to renew my driver’s license. Since I’m turning a certain age soon (in nine days, but who’s counting) they find it necessary to check my vision. Also, there is a new process in place that requires my information and photo be processed through a centralized system. To do…

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Flavor Fusions and Angels – Day Thirty
Flavor Fusions and Angels – Day Thirty Nicole

The year before I was born (1966, if you haven’t been keeping up) McDonald’s started using frozen french fries. The first credit card in Great Britain, the Barclaycard, was also introduced that year. Mississippi repealed Prohibition – its last holdout, Simon and Garfunkel released ‘Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme;’ the first law requiring ingredients listings…

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Just Like You, Nothing Like You – Day Twenty-Nine
Just Like You, Nothing Like You – Day Twenty-Nine Nicole

One of the first personality inventories I took sorts people into groups represented by one of four animals (lion, beaver, golden retriever, otter) developed by Smalley and Trent in the 1980s. I never liked taking these inventories mostly because the questions could be answered differently depending on the day, or two answers were equally true.…

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Ordinary Time – Day Twenty-Five
Ordinary Time – Day Twenty-Five Nicole

The first time I ever cursed out loud I was about ten or eleven. I was hurt so badly by a friend, all I could think to do was use a phrase I heard others use—it contained nearly every curse word I knew. On the walk back home I repeated it over and again as…

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Ever-Present Wonder – Day Twenty
Ever-Present Wonder – Day Twenty Nicole

Yesterday my sister-in-law, Kristi, posted a note that described being outside under the night’s sky noticing the starry expanse, recognizing a constellation here, a cluster there. She was present, and knew it, and savored the timeless moments. Another sister-in-law, Rachel, shared a picture of her sweet Avery while taking a hike in Colorado’s hills, bird…

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Act Human – Day Sixteen
Act Human – Day Sixteen Nicole

On May 2, 1967, the Black Panthers entered the California State Capitol building, guns at their sides. Theirs was a demonstration, advocacy for their right to defend themselves against racism in policing. They wanted to police their neighborhoods by being present (carrying guns in compliance with CA law), observe arrests and other law enforcement activities.…

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Knowing With Awe – Day Ten
Knowing With Awe – Day Ten Nicole

Fifty years ago, NASA scheduled the first crewed mission of the US Apollo program. It would not take place as a launch rehearsal tragically ended with a cabin fire that killed all three crew members—Virgil Grissom, Edward White II, and Roger Chaffee. The name Apollo 1 was retired and commemorated by NASA on April 24,…

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Language as Sacrament – Day Nine
Language as Sacrament – Day Nine Nicole

When I was in primary school grammar instruction was compulsory, precise and rigorous. Understand the categories and rules and I could receive an ‘A.’ While I was an exemplary student, I am also mildly dyslexic—I just didn’t know it then. Categorization is excruciating for one with a dyslexic processing brain. And word order? Oy gevalt!…

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