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Get Unstuck and Coach With Me

    “The tools that Ann gave me, and worked through with me, have produced an actual plan and map for achieving two goals that have been on my “to-do” list for years. Having a plan (that I’ve already started implementing) has removed a huge weight from my shoulders and helped alleviate the guilt I felt for never reaching these goals.” — Sherry Carr-Smith, sherrycarrsmith.com I got unstuck. I can help you do the same for yourself. What I love to do in the creative realm and who I am fundamentally (let’s call this my character strengths)… Read More »Get Unstuck and Coach With Me

    For Us, Folks With a Kid About to Launch

      While this site serves mostly as a placeholder now, this moment compels me to reconnect with you here, on what began as a mom blog. Click here to listen, or continue reading below. Breathe deeply and slowly Settle into this moment Wrap your arms around yourself and imagine hugging your child, the one about to launch Picture them as an infant or toddler Maybe rock back and forth remembering what it felt like to carry them – in your womb, in your arms, or on your back – the weight of them when they were… Read More »For Us, Folks With a Kid About to Launch

      Night light

        IT’S! ANN! I yelled and waved my arms by way of greeting, unrecognizable to women I’ve known for over a decade, as they emerged from their frozen cars. My body stood covered in down parka and snow pants, two layers of wool socks and boots, my hair underneath hat and hood, my face shielded by a mask. Only my eyes peeked out, barely visible through the darkness and driving snow. After similarly exaggerated introductions IT’S! SARAH! HEY SARAH, IT’S! JULIE! the seven of us tramped through a foot of snow from the parking lot, past… Read More »Night light

        1 out of 3 ain’t bad

          If you need a laugh and to feel seen, watch comedian Robyn Schall revisit her goals for 2020. Next, if you can stomach it, revisit your own like I did. Ann’s 3 goals for 2020: More love, less dread: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHhahahahahahahHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHahahahahahahhahaah (ahem) Reclaim the stage: This one, I did! My path to this goal led me through 18 months of auditions for professional theaters to community theater open calls. One audition found me in a church gym, lined up with children, and a very patient if disheartened choreographer who pleaded I know I said SELL IT… Read More »1 out of 3 ain’t bad

          “Slowly is the fastest way…”

            I face this quote from Andre De Shields every time I sit at my desk. The 74-year-old prolific actor/choreographer/director gave this advice for longevity during his 2019 Tony acceptance speech. It serves me as a daily beacon, reminder, and deep breath inducer. Slowly is the fastest way to get to where you want to be. As an over-sensitive human with a tendency to barrel ahead toward one audacious creative goal after another, his advice resonates with me, comforts me, and helps me slow down. As a quarantinian (TM) growing more and more impatient to resume… Read More »“Slowly is the fastest way…”

            Hello, Again.

              “What’s the deal? Did someone hijack Ann’s Rants?” my dad texted me. When you google Ann’s Rants these days, the number one search result gives you a photo of a woman wearing aviators, sporting massive cleavage, and packing an automatic rifle. Someone did hijack Ann’s Rants, but probably not Uzi Babe. All my sites got corrupted due to being so elderly and neglected; decade-old links, custom themes no longer update-able, and a storyteller woefully exhausted of ranting on the internet. All three of my sites sat broken and abandoned all summer long, while I dragged… Read More »Hello, Again.

              Join Me for Lists & Letters

                Whether you’re preparing for a presentation at work, delivering a toast, writing a personal essay, or tempted to jump on a storytelling stage, lists and letters can serve as portals to your story. Join me Monday at DreamBank Madison for this beginner-friendly workshop with quick tips for writing and sharing your personal narrative. Participants will write a short piece and volunteers will workshop their writing aloud, for the whole group to learn. All are welcome — especially those nervous about public speaking. FREE registration here. Space is limited, so snag your seat!  

                The Thank-You Project Book: A Gratitude Roadmap and a Giveaway!

                  The Thank-You Project by Nancy Davis Kho Three years ago almost to the day, I received a letter from my friend Nancy. She described the letter as a way to mark her 50th birthday, by thanking the people, places, and things that helped her live a blessed life. I describe that letter as a masterful connect-the-dots of our friendship; one rendered with such care and craftsmanship, that I still get choked up to see the pattern of us, revealed. “What I love most about this joyful, life-affirming guide is that it feels like a letter… Read More »The Thank-You Project Book: A Gratitude Roadmap and a Giveaway!

                  My Lawn, My Anxiety Shire. A podcast. An invitation.

                    This summer I signed up for Robin Wise’s Finding Your Voice online writing course with guest teacher Emily McDowell. We get a photo prompt every other day, totaling 28 prompts. I hold myself accountable to every prompt, writing both fiction and non. Occasionally, I share one on the medias. My Anxiety Shire The lawn never dries in back. All summer the rain and humidity gets trapped in its Rapunzel tresses, breeding mosquitoes and anxiety. You can mow a dry lawn in 45 minutes. You can zone out and enjoy the back and forth motion, the… Read More »My Lawn, My Anxiety Shire. A podcast. An invitation.

                    A Tip Jar for Me

                      Kid behaviors like fighting, whining, BackTalk (TM my Dad) and neglecting chores clamor for my husband and my attention on a loop. Too often we fail to recognize all the positive steps and good decisions our boys make. Thanks to an idea from my therapist mom, years ago we began using a tip jar as an incentive for our kids, and a reminder for ourselves to acknowledge their progress. The tip jar Caring gestures, good attitudes, generosity, cooperation– any and all of it earns a poker chip in the jar. When they fill the jar… Read More »A Tip Jar for Me