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The Goodjelly Blog

On Solving for Pie

By Christine Carron

How can I make it easy? This question is my current obsession in relation to my writing—both novels and blog posts. And since I also love pie, I'm going for full cliché easy-as-pie easy. 

Years ago, I read a book by Marshall Goldsmith called What Got You...

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On the Importance of Being Awkward

By Christine Carron

Once upon a time I was brought in to lead a team-building workshop with a research group that was having challenges with communication, trust, and collaboration. The opening exercise of the workshop was one that pretty much any adult who has taken any workshop or class has...

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On Wonder's Clear-Eyed Vision

By Christine Carron

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A child's world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. It is our misfortune that for most of us that clear-eyed vision, that true instinct for what is beautiful and awe-inspiring, is dimmed and even lost before we reach adulthood. If I had...

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On the Slow-Variable Game

By Christine Carron

I’m forging ahead on the Great Reading Reset of 2022 and working my way through three books this week, one of which is Resilience Thinking: Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World by Brian Walker and David Salt. This book, which is about systems theory and...

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On Finding More Time for Your Writing

By Christine Carron

One of the best management interventions I ever experienced happened at a time in my corporate career when I was overloaded with work. Cross-eyed with work. Like seriously trapped in a chicken-head-off cyclone of work madness.

My boss, located on the other side of the country,...

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On Making the Air Space

By Christine Carron

When I was in grade school, I was a member of the Saint Louis Civic Ballet. Stanley Herbert was the company's maestro. I learned so much from Mr. Herbert about discipline, technique, and art. He was also quite a character. A vivid memory is of him sitting in his regular spot...

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On Jellyfishing the Writing Adventure

By Christine Carron

A few years ago, I was at a workshop where the facilitator led us into a meditative state. During the meditation, I had a waking dream where I was floating deep in the ocean and jellyfish were all around me. It was an extraordinarily beautiful and soothing experience. 

It...

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On Taming the Reading Tidal Wave

By Christine Carron

This morning, I finished reading John O’Donohue’s Walking in Wonder. It is a gorgeous, contemplative book. The calm and clarity of his words reverberated through me, but beyond my happiness about its content, what struck me is how satisfied I felt seeing the...

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On Decapitating Joseph

By Christine Carron

One by one, I pulled out the carefully wrapped wooden figures from the nativity set I bought at a Christmas market in Germany years ago. As I was unwrapping Joseph, a neighbor walked past our apartment door with his dog. My pup decided to notify me of that momentous event. Her...

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On Channeling Your Inner Carol

By Christine Carron

A few weeks ago, my friend Carol Brown posted photos of her dog Erik participating in a dog agility event. I am lucky to have many dog training friends, and many of my dog training friends participate in the sport of dog agility, which means I get to see photos of many amazing...

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On Finishing Well

By Christine Carron

One of the most profound lessons I integrated from my years of dance training was to finish well. At its core, this directive is a guard against performance meltdowns in situations where a dancer flubs or forgets the steps, or worse, falls. It calls you to pick yourself up,...

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On Constraints and Creativity

By Christine Carron

I admit to being annoyed. I recently read a book (that shall remain nameless) where the author set up the main character, a girl, as being six feet tall. Then the author sent said character to a masquerade party and another key character had a conversation with our masked,...

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