Category: Roots

  • The Ecology of Time

    I picked up two words during the pandemic that already existed. I had to make a third one myself. “Rewirement” had been circulating in career writing for years before 2020, a way to describe retirement that keeps moving instead of stopping. “Eco-anxiety” already had a home in psychology, the chronic worry that settles in when you watch the planet strain…

  • Learning in the Company of Good People

    This year I had the rare gift of learning inside communities built for exactly that: showing up as you are and being met by people who have your back. Between Career Pathways, the Green Communities Leadership Institute cohort, and the Emerging Leaders Initiative, I’ve spent stretches of the last three years, since my Career Pathways cohort in 2023, in rooms…

  • Filipino American History Month: My Reflections as a Filipina American

    Growing up in Japan, I visited the Philippines every other Christmas and several summers. When I first moved to America for college, I experienced culture shock. I had visited the United States often and studied American history, but I had never lived—or identified—as an American until 2009. I am still learning what it means to be Filipino American. As a…

  • Urban Canopy Maps

    The things being connected are called nodes and the connections are called links. The process and patterns are highlighted through streams, while the end goal may never be achieved. When I first realized I was part of the northeast end of Little Village, I had always assumed my home was within the boundaries of West Pilsen, Marshall Square, South Douglass…

  • Farewell Honey Locust

    Today our honey locust tree in our front yard came down. It had been struggling, but I didn’t know much about trees until I took a TreeKeeper course with a non-profit organization called Openlands early this year. Founded in 1963, Openlands protects the natural and open spaces of northeastern Illinois and the surrounding region to ensure cleaner air and water, protect natural…