Author Archives: Maren
First leg: Southward to the San Francisco Bay
This trip has been absolutely magical so far. In southern Oregon, I had a wonderful conversation in the sightseer lounge car, with a woman from Corvallis. We looked out upon rain-soaked late-September trees in the fading golden light, then watched … Continue reading
My epic cross-country train trip
It’s been a while since I have written here. I judge myself, sometimes, for my lack of discipline in keeping up this blog. And then, sometimes, I am able to instead empathize with myself—to recognize the obstacles that get in … Continue reading
How to use Tinder (without losing your soul)
(Note: This is a piece I wrote for another site, and I wanted to share it here as well. So many of us struggle to find meaningful connections; I hope some of you will find this useful.) Here we are, … Continue reading
Partnership for Safety and Justice benefit
I have long been a supporter of the work of the Partnership for Safety and Justice. This Oregon nonprofit takes a holistic—while also unapologetically political—approach to criminal justice reform, focusing both on pragmatic support for crime victims, and a humanistic … Continue reading
Please vote!! and a MoveOn.org benefit for November
I’ll keep this brief. I’m sure I don’t need to tell anyone reading this that our nation, and our world, are at a political crisis point. The US midterm election is less than a week away, and its results could … Continue reading
October benefit for assault survivors
Wow. What a week. As we all reel from the activity in the United States Senate these past few days, I have felt a groundswell of emotion all over my social media feeds. People of conscience—particularly women and sexual assault … Continue reading
Three new salons: Portland, Boston, and Vancouver, BC!
I love my Dream Into Change salons, and I’m taking them international this summer! I will be visiting the lovely Vancouver, BC, by train (of course!) at the end of June and beginning of July, and I will be and hosting … Continue reading
Accountability: The political and the personal
As I’ve written before—and as I certainly don’t need to point out to anyone reading this—we are living in very difficult times. Violence, prejudice and oppression, and environmental destruction are all around us. Political atrocities and scandals bombard our news … Continue reading
ACLU empathy benefit in a fraught February
How are you all hanging in there? I don’t have tell any of you that it’s rough. It’s really rough right now. On so many fronts. I’ll keep this short. I’ve been marching, sending money to activist organizations, contacting my … Continue reading
New offering: “awkward-email” support
Fellow culture shifters: Do you have an awkward email sitting in your inbox right now? Something—either personal or professional—that you know you “should” respond to, but you’re scared to do it, because you want your words to come across the … Continue reading