Author: Colleen Windham-Hughes

• May 19, 2023

  The one you’ll be with the most

  The one you’ll be with the most is you. You have no real or permanent escape from your body, your breath, your thoughts. And it matters so very much how your treat your body, your breath, your thoughts. You are the one you are with the most—more than any parent, partner, friend, or coworker. Your…
• May 12, 2023

  commencement–not graduation

  “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end,” Seneca. Today is Commencement at my institution—an ending that is also a beginning, as the word suggests. It’s not the beginning of life or the “real world,” as some style it, but the beginning that starts again when it seemed like everything was over, like there…
• May 5, 2023

  The “gift” in forgiveness

  The strangest gift I ever received was family silver from a couple who once announced themselves my enemies. In their eyes I had failed them as a leader, on one of their most cherished days. I was 23 years old, and their criticism went straight to my worst fears. But it did not end me.…
• April 28, 2023

  Framing failure

  “Failure is not an option.”[1] We’ve heard it before–in advertisements for action movies, in talk about our schools, around committee meeting tables. We’ve heard it, over and over again. And it’s supposed to be a motivator. Here’s the problem: it’s only partly true. If option is a choice, it’s true that we rarely choose to…
• April 21, 2023

  culture–the same for humans as for yogurt

  “Live active cultures.” The phrase indicates the presence of beneficial bacteria in yogurt—“probiotics” or “for-lifers.” If yogurt does not have live active cultures, it’s candy. Frequently I call upon yogurt to help people understand culture. It means the same thing for people that it does for yogurt: conditions that foster life and growth. This does…
• April 14, 2023

  of breath…you are yourself an instrument

  It is one of those days when I try to work and only poetry will come out. On my mind today is a conviction that the only gift we ever really have to give is ourselves. The gift of self is evident in energy and attention, in time and care. So often we try to…
• April 7, 2023

  Called to unlearning

  “I learned something new today…” was the most joyous and welcome contribution to the dinner table in my family of origin. My parents, both educators, encouraged us to seek and to celebrate learning something new—anywhere, at any time, from anyone. After nearly 20 years of teaching and parenting, I now realize that unlearning is just…
• March 31, 2023

  compassionate tricks

  Headed into an overdue “break” next week, I’m a little worried about myself and the people I work with. • Work has had a long time to pile up, and we’ve been tired, so we haven’t done it all. We may think it’s better for us to work through our break. It isn’t. • The…
• March 24, 2023

  4 Dance Steps for Sharing Leadership and Life

  When my father encountered someone such that they both found each other in the way, he always said, “Shall we dance?” Dance is often used as a metaphor for relationships, and it can do a lot of work for us, helping us understand learning steps, taking cues from your partner, tuning into rhythm, knowing when…
• March 17, 2023

  Obcedia (“over-caring”): The Midnight Demon

  Obcedia (“over-caring”) attacks in the middle of the night, disturbing sleep, increasing urgency while depriving agency. For many years I’ve been acquainted with the midnight demon—the one who disrupts rest and spins the mind unhelpfully in too many directions. Seizing on things you really care about and slipping in under the cover of night, when…