Rick says to Ilsa: I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans… Read more Bogart’s character Rick in Casablanca: is he an optimist or pessimist? →
At work, I make dozens of considered decisions about and during each intervention. Think about any conflict, and there was perhaps some heart stopping moment when you realized that someone needs to do or say something. But what? Each intervention, reframe, summary, or caucus, has potential to be a change leading the parties somewhere, with no returning to the prior state. Seventeen years ago, I wrote a 90,000+ word novel about a Conflict Manager’s thought processes at work, the in-the-moment decision-making. Editing those words has been my 16 year obsession since. If… Read more The Mind Of A Mediator: my novel in progress →
Change seems to breed retrospection and paradox. My past is as big a surprise as any future. Oh, I was naive to believe my life’s path led straight to graduation and some career. In… Read more Changing piece of mind to peace of mind →
For anyone who missed Angelina Jolie’s May 14, 2013, NY Times Op-Ed My Medical Choice, she announced her prophylactic (preventative) mastectomies. Now that people have stopped asking my opinion about her letter, I have… Read more My medical choice is different than Angelina Jolie’s →
Chemotherapy stole my concentration, compassion, and creativity. I came home from chemo treatment to find my brain ransacked. Neurons scattered everywhere. My orderly mental filing cabinet of memories ripped apart and discarded in… Read more Restitution for chemotherapy’s criminal tendencies →
This weekend we were environmental refugees. It happened so fast. On my commute home across the Bow River foot bridge June 21, I marveled at the water’s height, speed and ferocity,… Read more 4 days after the Calgary flood – #YYCflood, #abflood →
Deborah Sword 