From the category archives:

Conversation Over Coffee

Susan told me she and Beth were friends. “Not the everyday, check-in-with-each-other kind of friends,” she said. “But the every-couple-of months kind. Where you see each other and it’s as if no time at all has passed. You just pick up your last conversation and are comfortable together for an hour or an evening or [...]

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Study Dates Then and Now

by Barbara Hartsook on June 10, 2010 · 16 comments

in Conversation Over Coffee

First the Library… My husband’s and my first dates were study dates at our university library, an old brick structure with high ceilings and tall windows. We climbed a dozen concrete steps to enter through massive, ornate, wooden double doors. Once those doors closed behind us, they shut out all sounds but our footfalls echoing [...]

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We crave new beginnings, don’t we? If New Year’s is the time to write resolutions and begin anew, spring is the time to freshen up and begin yet again. In northern Ohio we watch closely for the signs of spring long before the temperatures rise. Long before we even think of opening the windows, or [...]

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I read (and copied it into my journal) a quote from William Blake: “No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.” And the thought struck me: Opportunity is like that bird — high-soaring, inviting us to come along, take hold, and fly under our own wing-power. Opportunities do not land… Opportunity [...]

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We Live Where Our Focus Is

by Barbara Hartsook on March 12, 2010 · 41 comments

in Conversation Over Coffee

I live where my focus is. The Good Book says, ‘Where your heart is, there will be your treasure.” Where my heart is… hmm. In the ancient text, the word heart referred to everything I’m made up of – my substance. So it must matter where I focus my thoughts, my energies, my choices, my [...]

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@beanfair asked the question on Twitter: What do YOU think makes an effective Tweet? Is it a call to action? A tease that makes you curious? a great link or…? My answer is Yes. All those things. I am a life-learner, curious beyond measure, and ever-antsy to do something! so Yes, all those things. A [...]

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Story Puts the Happy in New Year

by Barbara Hartsook on January 6, 2010 · 4 comments

in Conversation Over Coffee

I have to share a happy new year story with you. It’s called A Walk in the Snow with Not-So Strangers. I was roaming the Internet from the Technorati site, and through a series of clicks from here, found myself on Katie Paine’s blog. In the side bar were titles of recent posts, and this [...]

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Tidy up. That’s what I want to do. Sort out. Pitch. Give away. Save. Make room for what’s to come. Get rid of the clutter on my desk, in my closets, and in my schedule. It’s that time of year we think about new goals, shedding pounds, prettying up our homes, wishing folks Happy…  these [...]

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The local Starbucks coffee shop changes with the seasons. New mugs, new coffee packaging, new displays. And of course, decorations… Yesterday Christmas decorations went in as my hubby and I sat reading, over coffee. Snow-frosted pine garlands crossed over the tops of shelves and poked their message of good cheer in and out of everywhere. [...]

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What is a Rascal and is it a Good Thing?

by Barbara Hartsook on November 3, 2009 · 15 comments

in Conversation Over Coffee

Is being a Rascal a good thing? Do I know any? Am I one? I saw a blog post today that quoted Chris Brady — a businessman, best-selling author, speaker, and a self-proclaimed Rascal — in listing several qualities of a Rascal. According to @RascalTweets: A Rascal is a guy or gal who makes a [...]

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