In this Entry:State of the World/ Feel Better TipsPersonal Reflection/ Power of ConnectionJust Because/ McMenaminsPostscript I don’t know about you, but I’ve been feeling a bit down lately. Given the state of so much in our world - war, politics, inflation - it's no surprise. Add our own or loved ones' aging or health challenges, … Continue reading The Joy Survival Kit: Staying Up When Life Gets Heavy
In this Entry:Social Action/ Worker Memorial DayPersonal Reflection/ Young Worker FatalitiesBook Recommendations/ S.R. Stoner's Sage Series Social Action Graham Trainor, President, Oregon Labor Federation, AFL-CIO offers opening and closing remarks. Today is Workers Memorial Day. I suspect most Americans are unaware of this memorial for those lives lost on the job this past year. And … Continue reading Labor, Loss, and Literature: A Personal Entry
I did not expect to be retired from my primary profession at this point in my life. Yet another reminder to expect that life will surprise us. No matter what kind of planning we do. And to be prepared to roll in new or different directions. It's been just over a year since I officially … Continue reading Navigating Life Changes: Insights on Retirement
Reflections on a life in safety, a passion for fiction, and the labor that defines us. Each day, authors debut a first or next work. Somewhere between 2-4 million new books are released each year worldwide. It's both exciting and overwhelming to try to keep up with the variety and diversity of available books. And … Continue reading More Than a Job: How Work Can Dictate the Way Characters Breathe
I promised you, my faithful readers, that I'd stop posting when I ran out of content. No, I'm not there yet. But I asserted to myself I'd not be too impulsive in posting content that may sound good to me while rambling, either physically or metaphysically, but loses appeal soon after. Energetic beginnings dictated into … Continue reading The Blogs I Never Wrote—and Why
Does it seem the older we get, the harder it is to recognize the year's end? Perhaps we have finally accepted there are fewer years ahead of us than behind? Or maybe, 2025 is a year we are eager to be done with! Regardless, it is odd for me to look at the 2026 calendar. … Continue reading Thank You for 10 Years of Blogging: Celebrating 2025 Milestones
My dear friend Maura and I have each published creative works, but did you know we also both have Masters Degrees in public health and worked our careers as Certified Industrial Hygienists? Once in a while, something happens and you just know there’s a bit of magic-making. Little things and big things, things we forget … Continue reading Exploring Relationships in Fiction and Public Health
Yes, I hear a few of you thinking: Didn't she just say she's retired? Yeah, yeah. It's just that I do always hope to give back. And as evidence in my sharing this piece, though it might be contrary to what some believe, I too can't turn my brain off. After catching up with a … Continue reading Total Worker Health: Idealism vs. Reality
Keynote talk at the 2023 ASSP WISE (Women in Safety Excellence) event at Oregon Governor's Occupational Safety and Health Conference. My mom was a bit younger than I am now when she retired from her adjunct faculty position at Marylhurst. It was a difficult choice as she loved what she did, but an autoimmune illness … Continue reading Embracing Retirement: A Journey of Growth and Mentorship
Hawaiian women pack pineapple into cans, November 20, 1928. View in National Archives Catalog When I began graduate school in 1984 at the University of Washington School of Public Health, I thought I wanted to work in water quality. Yet that first quarter (Tony Horstman and Mike Morgan's) industrial hygiene class opened my eyes. I learned … Continue reading The Fight for Workers’ Rights: A Labor Day Reflection meets “A Map of Her Own”