A bored and lonely looking child picked berries one-by-one from my front hedge and mechanically ground each into the pile of snow I’d just swept from the public walk. In a ‘normal’ year, I might have given a short lesson about birds depending on berries in winter, or asked the child to not crush berry-stained snow into the sidewalk. One year into the pandemic, I let the small member of Generation COVID have that twenty minutes of entertainment. Conflict Competence for physically distanced children As I’m fond of saying, conflict… Read more Tips for Teaching Conflict Competence to Physically Distanced Children →
This short story was my 2005 birthday gift to a friend. In 2008, mediate.com made an exception to its nonfiction content rules to publish it. In 2013, I added it to… Read more An Improbable Tale Of Alien Romance →
A key message from Coaches is that we control only ourselves. Managing ourselves sounds easy and simple, and is hard and complicated. When someone’s in our face we get defensive.… Read more TV guide to conflict competence →
Enter 2018, fireworks on a revving motor Anyone else feeling inundated with endless stories of unsavoury behaviour? January enflames as if Santa delivered lumps of coal named rocket, collusion, accusation,… Read more Three hopeful truths for 2018 →
Seventeen years ago, I wrote a novel about a Conflict Manager. For the past sixteen years, I’ve been editing it. My interest is in Conflict Managers’ thought processes as we… Read more Does conflict competence make a good story? →
If I listen to the voices that tell me I can’t, or it’ll never happen, I ensure that I don’t and it won’t. If I try anyway, there’s at least… Read more Will practice make up for lack of talent? →
Deborah Sword 