Words We Heard: 'It's a reminder of how much evil can be obscured by the appearance of good.'

Spoiler alert: I'm about to reveal both personal weakness and inner weirdness all at the same time. 

There are extra-busy days (weeks? months?) where I'm juggling the 40-hour work week, the passion of the side-hustle, the two-year-old bouncing on my ankles as I write this, the pursuit of the ever-elusive clean and organized household, etc., etc. I often steer myself through 16-hour days by way of this weird inner monologue, sometimes keeping myself organized (don't forget to put milk on the list don't forget to put milk on the list don't forget to put milk on the list), sometimes boosting my self-confidence (switching those paragraphs was an awesome idea), sometimes deflecting the impatience the outside world holds for my all-consuming, self-righteous work ethic (well he can't possibly understand what I'm going through; he actually had time to sit on the couch for five minutes today). HA. Get over yourself, girl! (You can stop talking to yourself now.) 

All this is not to say I'm in serious need of psychoanalysis. My point is, I admit that my perspective is often skewed. My world often revolves around me, and my quest for top-to-bottom perfection; I often miss out on the things and people around me that are already perfect. This week I'm challenging myself to start realigning that perspective, for starters, by being a better listener. (Baby steps.)

My challenge to you this week is to consider how your perspective might be a little thrown off by the daily grind. Does your daily self line up with the person you really want to be? How can you take steps to become more like that person? Taking a hard look at yourself can be both tough and rewarding; I'd love to hear what you discover.

-Kiersten

• "I want women to read this and know that they don’t need to be afraid to do things differently and grow once they have." –Katie Trauth Taylor, CEO of Untold Content, in an interview with Women of Cincy
• "Women make up 51 percent of the population but less than 25 percent of elected officials." –Putting Women in Their Place
• "The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world." –Paul Farmer, as quoted in an e-newsletter from Conscious Magazine
• "What happened in Charlottesville is less an aberrant travesty in a progressive enclave than it is a reminder of how much evil can be obscured by the appearance of good." –Jia Tolentino in her New Yorker piece "Charlottesville and the Effort to Downplay Racism in America"
• "Conceived by Caroline Creaghead, an audio and video producer in Covington, Herechannelradio.com will give anyone in Greater Cincinnati a platform to have his or her content heard, without the pressure of competing against experienced broadcasters for radio spots." –"Pop-Up Studio to Offer Free Radio Platform" in Movers and Makers Magazine
• "Our Cincinnati includes dreamers, doers, and those unapologetically pushing against 'the norm.' We’re entrepreneurs, leaders of global companies, brand builders, artists, community cultivators, catalysts and so much more. Our city respects tradition, but we brazenly reject the idea of exclusivity." –Autumn Heisler and Haley Moore, co-presidents of AIGA Cincinnati, in an e-newsletter on diversity and inclusion