Author and teacher Callie Feyen tells the heartwarming story of an unlikely friendship sealed with a legacy of handwritten letters.
Gratitude Together: So This Is Friendship
A friendship built around love of breakfast and Ted Kooser yields a surprising poem in difficult days.
Gratitude Together: Leftover Astonishments
“Do you know any of Anna Kamienska’s poetry? ‘Astonishments’ is my favorite,” Callie Feyen texted to her friend Stephanie. “I’ve been contemplating the last two lines of her ‘Gratitude’ poem: ‘Gratitude is a scattered / homeless love.’”
Literary Friends: Charles Dickens, John Forster, Jane Carlyle, and Me
“I’d decided going to graduate school was a mistake, and began to make plans to give up,” says Callie Feyen. “Enter Charles Dickens, John Forster, and Jane Carlyle.”
Literary Friends: Peter Pan Meets Sherlock Holmes
The friendship of James M. Barrie, who wrote “Peter Pan,” and Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, survived parody, cricket, and literary fame.
Literary Friends: Keeping Anna Akhmatova Alive
Anna Akhmatova’s friends memorized her poems to keep her work alive when it was too dangerous to put pen to paper. Sandra Heska King spotlights this life and death role of literary friends.
Cross-Generational Friendships: Where’s My Daughter? Call Her Forth
One glimmering night, three generations, and a whole lot of love—with a little Shakespeare to flavor the memory. From author Callie Feyen.
Cross-Generational Friendships: I Signed Up for a Toddler Swim Class
Join Claire Haidar as the beach umbrella among little bottles of suntan lotion (or, the grownup in the toddler swim class) in this delightful cross-generational story.
Difficult Conversations: Disorganized Narrative Inside
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Cross-Generational Friendships—Wanted: Inquisitive Angel
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Difficult Conversations: Eleven by Sandra Cisneros
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Difficult Conversations: Mind the Whales
We continue our book club discussion of Difficult Conversations with an exploration of the Feelings Conversation— accompanied by a humorous and thoughtful look at Claire Trévien’s “Whales.”
Difficult Conversations Book Club: Let’s First Hear from Aunt Bertha
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Difficult Conversations Pod Club: On Being’s “The Art of Peace” with John Paul Lederach
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Introvert Paradise: To Find the Imperial Friend, Part II
Richard Maxson concludes his reflection on growing up and finding the confidence to live as himself, this time in the engine of a white ’64 GTO.
Introvert Paradise Pod Club: How Do Introverts Share Ideas
Environments that allow both extroverts and introverts to thrive are key to flourishing creativity. We’re discussing Susan Cain’s The Power of Introverts.
Difficult Conversations: Book Club & Pod Club Announcement
In October, the focus of our Friendship Project turns to the subject of Difficult Conversations. Join us for upcoming book and pod club discussions on this important topic.
Introvert Paradise: A Scheduled Meeting to Read Sacredly
Introverts can find paradise by reading a text sacredly in a scheduled meeting with a friend. Especially if it’s Harry Potter.
Introvert Paradise: Pod Club Announcement: How Do Introverts Share Ideas?
A few years ago, researcher Susan Cain quietly raised a hand at the back of a crowded, extroverted corporate and academic culture and created, for some among us, a veritable raucous permission to continue to be our introverted selves.
Introvert Paradise: To Find the Imperial Friend
Richard Maxson understands the respite an introvert finds in the space of his own head in this tender piece about coming of age on an exotic international journey.